BJ healthcare lawsuit deadline moved to Oct. 26

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.