01/05/2012
Dental and Vision Coverage
To All Retirees,
Your new Dental coverage will be handled thru Delta Dental of Michigan. You will need to call them to get a PPO provider so you can get the best bang for your buck. Their number is 1-800-524-0149.
Your new Vision Coverage will be paid thru your Health Carrier, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. To find out who participates call 1-800-482-2210.
If you still are paying for the COBRA Coverage for Dental & Vision you continue to do as you have been.
Davis Vision 1-888-672-8393
Delta Dental 1-800-942-0667
Please remember that you always want to use an IN NETWORK PROVIDER.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
Retiree Benefit Rep
Region 8
Dear Brother and Sister Retirees,
By now you should have received the letter from the Veba Trust explaining the upcoming changes for 2012. One thing I wanted to bring to your attention is the Dental Program. The new coverage is only Preventive Coverage. This means you will only have coverage for two cleanings twice per year, x-rays, fillings etc. If you are currently enrolled in the COBRA DENTAL(this is the program that you pay for each month) you might want to keep thisprogram. Once you cancel the COBRA you will not be able to pick it back up. The COBRA PROGRAM has full dental benefits provided you use a PPO dentist. If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to contact me and I will explain it to you.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
Region 8 Retiree Representative
1-866-854-9756
NOTICE
This letter is to inform all of our UAW/GM/DELPHI retirees that if you were born after September 15, 1949 the age creep does not apply to you anymore. Under the new contract your supplement will be cut at age 62 and a month. I would advise you that if you are going to sign up for social security to contact the social security department 3 months prior to turning age 62. The pension center should send you a letter stating this information if it pertains to you. Also as I'm sure most of you have heard there will be no more Christmas Bonus’s to our retirees or surviving spouses.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
Retiree Rep
FLU Shot Coverage
Some Walgreens and CVS pharmacy’s have what’s called walk in clinics. Should you choose to use one of these clinics to get a shingles shot, it will not be covered. I have been informed from blue cross and blue shield that you can still go to your doctor’s office or a regular pharmacy to get the shot. Should you go to your doctor’s office they can bill blue cross directly. If you go to a regular pharmacy you will have to pay for the shot and get reimbursed. Make sure to keep your receipt because there is a special form that has to be filled out. Please don't misunderstand there are several Walgreens and CVS's that don't have the walk in clinics. You can use these pharmacy’s. The best thing to do is to ask first.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
404-524-5157
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I have had numerous calls about if we are going to get our Dental and Vision back. I honestly have no idea, but for those of you who were not able to take out the Cobra Dental and Vision we have found two providers that you might want to call and get the information sent to you. By no means am I advocating these places. It is entirely up to you. All I'm doing is supplying you with some names.
Humana Dental and Vision
1-877-211-5475
Dental Plans
1-800-624-4804
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
Special Assigned Region 8
Region 8 GM/Delphi
Retiree Benefit Representative
Downsizing in the North American Automotive
Market has resulted in a number of local unions being dissolved
across the country. Unfortunately some of those local unions
are in Region 8. As a result, many of our retirees have lost
their local union benefit representative. Region Director Gary
Casteel has assigned Region 8 UAW Representative Skipper Rish
as Retiree Benefit Representative for GM/Delphi Retirees in
the region. Skipper works out of the Atlanta Office and can
be reached at 1-866-854-9756. If your local still has a benefit
representative check their first before contacting Skipper. General information notices will be posted here
concerning GM/Delphi retiree information. If you are a GM/Delphi
Retiree in Region 8, check back often for the latest benefit information.
If you have a question concerning a personal benefit issue call
Skipper at 1-866-854-9756. For general information questions,
email Skipper by clicking here. skipperrish@att.net
GM Retiree Dependent Audit As you should all know by now G.M.
is in the process of doing a dependent audit on your health
care. If you have any dependents the audit must be completed
with the proper documents mailed back by February 13, 2009.
Please read the information packet carefully and include the
documents that show your dependents are eligible to remain on
your coverage. You have a pin number on the upper right side
of the letter from G.M. If you need to call the eligibility
Audit Help Line you will need to give them this pin number.
Every person has a different pin number. The number to call
if you did not receive your package is 1-888-898-1101. If you
should have any questions please feel free to call me at 1-866-854-9756.
Thank You,
Skipper Rish
Region 8 Retiree Benefit Representative
2009 GM/Delphi Retiree Benefit Deductible
Starting January 1, 2009 the new deductible
for G.M. retirees will be $164.00 for single and $328.00 for
family. Please remember to try and stay in network. The in-network
coinsurance will remain at 10%. If anyone has any questions
please feel free to contact me at 1-866-854-9756. Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year to all of you and your families.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
Region 8 Retiree Benefit Representative
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Region 8,
I'm sure by now that you are all aware that as of February
1,2009 you have been switched to the General Motors health care.
You will be recieving your new cards within the next few weeks.
Your new Vision carrier will be Davis Vision, Dental is Delta
Dental. As always please try to go to a participating provider.
If anyone has any problems please call me at 1-866-854-9756.
You should have recieved a packet with phone numbers, deductibles,etc.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
Beneficiary Info
Recently there have been some problems
after some of our retirees had passed away. Their surviving
spouses or children who thought that they were the beneficiaries
of record found out that they were not. I encourage everyone
to make sure that there beneficiary designations are current.
You can call Met Life at 1-888-543-3461 and request a new form
be mailed to you and the new form will superceed the old form.
Fill out the new form completly and mail it back to Met Life.
They will send you an updated confirmation that the form has
been received .
The dependent audit being conducted by General Motors has been
extended to April 14, 2009. If any of you have not sent in your
documents required to keep your dependents on your insurance
please do so as soon as possible. Effective January 1, 2009
if you have a child who is a full time student that childs coverage
will cease the end of the calender year that they turn 24 years
old. Please remember that under the new agreement the child
must be a full time student.
Recently I have been notified that some of our surviving spouses
were receiving letters from Met Life about dependent life insurance
that was confusing to them. If you recently had a spouse that
died and had dependent life insurance coverage, you the surviving
spouse have a right to keep that coverage should you want to
continue paying the premiums. If you have a death it needs to
be reported to Met Life at 1-888-543-3461. If you have any questions
please call me at 1-866-245-5957.
Skipper Rish
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As I had stated in a previous article everyone that is a Delphi
retiree was switched to the G.M. Benefits package. In case you
have not recieved your new cards yet this information will help
you in case you need to go to a doctor or get prescriptions.
Your member I.D. is your social security number. Your group
number is GM 00118. If your doctor needs to verify that you
do have coverage with Blue Cross they can call the Benefit Service
Center at 1-800-489-4646 ask for the Health and Insurance department.
You can also call Blue Cross of Michigan at 1-800-482-2210.
If any of you run into any problems please contact me at 1-866-854-9756
or you can e-mail me at skipperrish@gm.com.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
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Dependent Audit
Brothers and Sisters, I have been informed that the UAW Trust will begin a dependent audit only for retirees that have children or step children between the ages of 19 thru 26. Starting in mid June cards will be mailed out to the retirees informing them of the up coming audit. At the end of June Verification letters will go out about the documents that will be required. If you do not respond by July, reminder letters will be sent to you. On September 1, 2011 if all the required documents have not been sent back to the trust you will recieve a Termination letter stating that your child has been removed from your coverage. The documents that will be asked to send back are: Proof of Residency 1040 Tax Return Birth Certificate. PLEASE DO NOT DELAY!!!!!! Send in the documents as soon as you recieve your card. This audit does not include your spouses. The audit will be done by HEWITT. Fraternally, Skipper Rish Special Assigned Retiree Rep Region 8 Dear Brother and Sister Retirees, If any of you have any changes in your life, such as a death of your spouse, change of address, remove or add a dependent or change your healthcare plan you must contact our healthcare provider ( Hewitt) so that they can update their system. Hewitt is the provider for our Veba Trust Fund account. The number is 1-866-637-7555. Their hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. E.T. You will also need to contact the GM Benefit Center (Fidelity) so your pensions won't get messed up. That number is 1-800-489-4646. I have mentioned this numerous times but if you are not sure who your beneficary is for your life insurance please contact Fidelity and request a new form. Fill the form out and mail it back. The new form will replace your old one with the correct person that you want to leave your insurance to. If you have a computer you can also update your beneficary form on line. In about a month you will be receiving a letter from the TRUST about upcoming changes on healthcare issues. Please read the letter as there will be important changes for the upcoming year 2011. Fraternally. Skipper Rish
Retiree Rep
Region 8
UAW and GM Reach Agreement on 2006-2008 MSR Retirements
The UAW is pleased to announce that General Motors has agreed to TOP up the pensions for all Delphi Retirees who received there letters from the PBGC.You will receive your checks June 14th, 2010. Our guys at Solidarity worked very hard with G.M. to get this done as soon as possible. We are greatful to all of them. I have tried to contact all of you that called me but if I missed any of you this e-mail will serve as the answer to your questions. . Fraternally, Skipper Rish Region 8 Retiree Benefits Rep
GM Launches Retiree Website The new GM Retiree Socrates website went live on May 3, 2010 with additional functionality and features not available for public viewing. This new website allows retiree’s access enhanced benefit information, announcements and notices, exclusive GM marketplace offers/discounts, club information, GM news and product information.
The new GM Retiree website is a secure site that is password protected. During the registration process, retirees will be asked to provide the last four digits of their social security number, zip code, birth, month, and birth date to confirm their identity as a GM retiree. In addition, they will be required to provide a valid email address so they can receive retiree eNews, as well as information on local GM events and activities. The new site is http:// www. gmretiree.com. Thanks,
Skipper
Blue Cross Cards
In the event that you did not receive
your Blue Cross cards yet you need to call 1-800-482-2210 and
listen to the promps and you can request new cards.
Also I'd like to explain how the procedure works for problems
such as bills,etc. If you have an active Benefits Representative
in your area you must go to them first for help. An exampe being
you are retired from the Saturn Plant or the Athens Plant you
still have active Benefit Reps that are there to assist you
with any problems. If they can't resolve the problem then you
contact me. This is coming directly from the International in
Detroit and also the Region 8 Director.
Fraternally,
Skipper Rish
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