As you are already aware, Ryan Reithel has been plucked from his Business Manager position of the I.B.E.W. Local 697 to become the newest member of the leadership team of the sixth district. I think this is bitter-sweet news for most of us. Certainly, we believe that the International could not have made a better choice and that Ryan will do the same stellar job in his new position as he did as Business Manager.

Crossword answers will appear within the Newsletter section of the Funds website in fifteen days.

As of this writing, the Chicago Bears are a 5000:1 to win the next Super Bowl; meaning if you bet $100.00 on them to do that, you would lose $100.00.

Effective January 1, 2021, retirees who were 65 years or older had their Plan P credit of $14.00 increased to $15.00 per credited year.

Sadly, covid cases are once again spiking. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is above 60,000 and it appears to be rising. Deaths due to covid have also risen three percent (3%). Which is astounding once you consider that the number of deaths typically rise a couple of weeks after the increase in new cases.

If you are confused as to which medical identification card to utilize when seeking dental, medical, pharmaceutical or vision card, we have created the following guide for you.

As a reminder, effective January 1, 2021, retired participants who are enrolled within the United HealthCare Medicare Advantage Program, have had their annual family dental allowance increased by fifty percent (50%). The new annual family dental allowance is $750.00.

If you seek dental care, make sure that you follow the guide above, and present the MagnaCare card to your dental provider at the time of service.

Effective, January 1, 2021, the cost of the monthly retiree Health and Benefit Plan’s coverage for retired participants was reduced from $630 a month to $550 a month.

To date there have been five educational teleconferences on the new United HealthCare Medicare Advantage Program with supplemental Part D coverage through SavRx. We thank those who not only attended the previous teleconferences but contributed with their excellent questions and comments.

It took 18 tugboats, a dredger and over six days, but it got done. The “Ever Given” was finally freed from the banks of the Suez Canal this week.

What does that have to do with your HRA debit card, you ask? Well, if you are willing to admit that you understand as much about liberating golden class container ships from man-made canals as you do about how to properly use the Plan’s HRA debit card, read on! The following tutorial is for you.