THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY RAMINIFICATIONS OF COVID AND HOW IT EFFECTS YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE A S.U.B. FUND BENEFITS

The Good News: Both mortality rates and infections are steadily dropping across the vaccinated population in the U.S.

The Bad News: COVID and its several variants remain as deadly as ever.

Medicare eligible retirees should be carrying three insurance cards on their person. Specifically, these cards are:

The UHC (United HealthCare) medical identification card.
The MagnaCare medical identification card. And,
The SavRx pharmacy identification card.

Pamela Huff, our associate, friend, and Benefit Fund employee of 22 years has decided to retire this July.

You all know Pam. She is the first voice you hear when calling in as well as the first person you see when you drop by the office. Over her tenure, Pam has helped the preponderance of the participants through both the happy or sad events in their lives and assisted the membership through Fund transitions and benefit changes.

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.