Retired printers eligible for the Beacon
Journal healthcare lawsuit settlement have until Oct. 26 to submit their
choices. The Sept. 21 deadline was pushed back to give them time to find
Medicare coverage only for Part B medical, and not include Part D prescription coverage, thus
blending with the prescription $5 co-pay restoration.
Summa provides such compatible coverage, but
is dropping that plan for 2013, when the BJ lawsuit settlement kicks in. Since
companies don’t announce their 2013 Medicare plans till October, the BJ
settlement deadline was delayed to accommodate the retired printers.
Guild retirees don’t have this problem and
can choose Plan N to go with their prescription $2 co-pay restoration. Plan N
restores healthcare coverage to retirement-day levels instead of the cutbacks
the BJ has made over the years.
Eligible
retirees will be enrolled with UnitedHealthcare for AARP Medicare Supplement
Plan N and Medical Mutual of Ohio for the $2 and $5 prescription
co-pays.
The fairness hearing before U.S. District
Court Judge David Dowd, which is expected to approve what attorneys from both
sides have agreed to, was moved from Oct. 4 to Nov. 9.
Both Guild and printer retirees eligible for
the settlement have till Friday, Sept. 21 to submit their reimbursement claims
for the difference between what they paid out of pocket because the BJ cut back
on coverage and what they would have paid under Plan N and the $5 or $2
prescription co-pays.
Go to the Labels category on the left side of
this blog and click on BJ Lawsuit to see previous stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment