At least 45 still benefitting from healthcare lawsuit against BJ

Black Press will pay $178.42 a month in 2019 for the AARP supplemental coverage to Medicare to the survivors who won the healthcare lawsuit against the BJ. That’s up from $154 a month in 2013.

Medicare pays 80% of what it allows for medical costs. AARP pays most of the other 20%. The yearly savings in this category are in the thousands for many lawsuit retirees.

Guild retirees in the lawsuit, including me, pay $2 for 30-day prescriptions, even if it’s a brand name prescription. That alone saves me thousands of dollars a year.

See, if DOES pay to stand up for your rights and risk putting your money where your mouth is.

Lawsuit winners also received reimbursements in the thousands of dollars for medical expenses caused by the BJ changing the coverage despite retirement letters prohibiting such action.

The lawsuit was filed in 2009 and settled in late 2012 in Judge Dowd's court. The changes were effective Jan. 1, 2013.

All of us owe a great debt to the late Dave White, who plunked down $2,500 of his money to get the ball rolling after he accidentally encountered a lawyer from Minnesota on the beach at Siesta Key, adjacent to Sarasota, Florida.

Benefitting are Gina White, of Venice, Florida, Dave’s widow; Bob and Linda Abbott, Massillon; Ruth and Tom West, Rittman; Sid Sprague, Loveland, Colorado; Sharon Downing, Hugh’s widow, The Villages, Florida; Larnie and Stephanie Greene, Hartville; Lloyd and Claudine Bigelow, Cuyahoga Falls; John Costello, Akron; Dick Gresock, Medina; Henry and Kathleen Heinbuck, North Canton; Denzil Parker, Wadsworth; Rita Reeves, Akron; Bob Walker, Medina; Cecil and Josephine Santaferro, Akron; Isabel Watson (Blanton’s widow), Naples, Florida; Janice Hogg (Trammel’s widow), Waynesville, North Carolina; Russ and Martel Bendel, Wadsworth; Eunice and Bonnie Collins, Copley; Richard and Patricia Fair, Akron; Marjorie Hanna, Wadsworth; Bob Kendall, Berlin Center; Harriet Ledbetter, Canton; Norm and Naomi Mattern, Wellsville; Charles O’Neill, Akron; Fred Pollack, Akron; Don Reppart, North Canton; Ron Sanderlin, Canton; Charles Stadelman, Tallmadge; and Ray and Amaryllis Wolfe, Greentown.

Guild lawsuit retirees are John Olesky, of Tallmadge, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Guild retirees; retired reporter Dick McBane, Lilburn, Georgia; maintenance retiree Harold Bailey and wife Elizabeth, Kent; and retired photographer Don Roese, Cuyahoga Falls.

Those who passed away after benefitting for a few years are printers Hugh Downing and Joe Catalano and the newsroom’s lovable rascal, Dick McLinden.

And, because Black Press kept the healthcare obligations for retirees, the almost annual sale of the BJ to another company, or so it seems, has no affect. The lawsuit winners are protected by a court order that guarantees them these benefits till they die.

In my case, my savings from the lawsuit have approached $30,000. Well worth standing up for your rights, huh?