Category: Chair Talk

By Bob Kopasz Physician’s Health Plan (PHP) Medicare Advantage Retirees were notified in the Retiree Benefits Bulletin that Physician’s Health Plan would be offering a Medicare Advantage Plan starting January 1, 2021. PHP then sent out a mailing to Retirees with information about the plan. In that mailing was an opt-out letter that created a… Read more

By Bob Kopasz The Michigan Civil Service Commission and Michigan Department of Technology, Management And Budget (DTMB) have approved another Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Retiree Health Benefits. The pertinent language/section is: “2. Cost-sharing waivers for primary-care and behavioral health office visits, telehealth medical and behavioral health services, in-office diagnostic laboratory testing and X-ray services,… Read more

By Bob Kopasz 2020 CENSUS Another reminder to complete the 2020 Census if you have not already done so: Online: my2020census.gov By phone: 844-330-2020 2020 SECC RETIREE CAMPAIGN The 2020 State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) for Retirees is accepting donations (checks or Credit card). Go to the SECC website at misecc.org to learn about the SECC… Read more

By Bob Kopasz On July 13, 2020 an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding for Retiree Health Benefits was approved by the Civil Service Commission. The MOU had changes in the current Medicare Advantage Plan that were beneficial to Medicare-eligible retirees. Cheryl Streberger and I had discussed these changes with Jan Winters (State Personnel Director) and Bethany Beauchine (Director,… Read more

By Bob Kopasz The Friday, August 7, 2020 Coordinating Council meeting will be a conference call: Call-in Number: 1-248-304-7182Participant code: 163-7182# The meeting/call will start at 10:00 a.m. There will be an abbreviated agenda consisting of:Treasurer’s reportChair ReportLegislative ReportMembership/Hantz ReportNomination Committee ReportCouncil Coordinator ReportNew/Old Business If there are any plusses to this pandemic and stay… Read more

By Bob Kopasz MEDICARE AND NO-FAULT AUTO INSURANCE I have been researching this issue extensively to try and provide some direction/suggestions to SERA members and retirees who are on Medicare as to what decisions you will need to make by July 1st when this law goes into effect. I looked (and listened) to the following:… Read more

By Bob Kopasz I hope that all SERA members and retirees are healthy and safe. These are unusual times and we need to take care of ourselves — we are in that vulnerable age group that is more susceptible to the Coronavirus disease.  Because of the Governor’s social distancing and stay-at-home Executive orders, we have… Read more

By Bob Kopasz 2020 CENSUS I sincerely hope that all retirees participated in the 2020 Census. I hope you have filled out the form and mailed it in, responded to the questions by phone or answered the questions online. It’s important that we are all counted in the census. CORONA VIRUS AND SERA MEETINGS Cheryl… Read more

By Bob Kopasz I was recently informed by Employee Benefits that Benefits For Life — Retiree Open enrollment will be held May 25 – June 19 this year. Both the Supplemental Term Life Insurance and Legal Plan enrollments will be available to retirees. You can find more information about the plans on the Civil Service website. SERA… Read more

By Bob Kopasz 2020 CENSUS I have been communicating with Wayne Maybaugh (Office of the State Employer) about SERA’s assistance to promote the upcoming 2020 census. It’s important that our state has an accurate count of our residents in order to receive all the federal dollars that are allocated based on our population. There is… Read more