Rocky Flats retirees recently received a packet of information in an envelope with a warning in bold type, “Must Read Special Announcement: Information About Important changes to your Retiree Benefits.” The letter inside dated June 27, 2014 from Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) announces in the first paragraph, “If you and/or your spouse are age 65 or older, we want to let you know about some important changes coming in 2015 for your Rocky Flats retiree healthcare benefits. If you are not yet 65, please understand these changes will not affect you until you or your spouse reach 65.” The letter then “sprinkles saccharine” on what is coming. It says “This new coverage will allow you and your spouse to enroll in retiree healthcare coverage that’s right for each of you.” It also says the changes will allow “…added flexibility and customization.”
The meeting about the changes did not present quite as positive a spin on what is coming. The contractor from WRPS led with the explanation that the company who won the contract to administer the benefits had to agree that they would analyze the total package and make adjustments if it provided benefits greater than 105% in comparison to sixteen other plans. The Rocky Flats benefits were found to be nearly 200%, or twice as generous as the average of the other plans. The contract therefore forced remedial action, and it was stated this was being done for the taxpayers. It‘s too early to attempt to judge or calculate the impact of the changes, because the costs for the different health care plans will not be available until later. I have no doubt I’ll be paying more for coverage that has higher deductibles.
There was at least one question from someone who accepted the early retirement offer in 1992. They said they were told they would receive “free health care for life.” There were other questions about the periodic negotiations with the bargaining unit that included the full benefit package. The Union would often accept increased benefits in lieu of some pay increases as a result of those negotiations. The answers to these questions were consistently that the new changes had been extensively reviewed and were in compliance with all previous contracts. It was encouraged that anyone with a contract that had not been considered should submit proof of that contract. I’m betting nothing changes.
This commentary certainly does not contain all the information that was presented at the meeting. Anyone who hasn’t attended a meeting should call 1-877-893-7224 to obtain a schedule if you don’t have one. The last meetings are at 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM at the Arvada Center on Thursday July 24. It is important that everyone currently covered by Rocky Flats benefits and is 65 and older understands they must, if they don’t want to lose health care coverage, be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B and sign up for the new benefits they will chose based on information yet to be delivered. They also must belong to AARP if they want to sign up for one of the three prescription drug plans.
DOE prepared the contract that created this situation, and I didn’t hear anyone from DOE at the meeting taking part in the explanations. I wish I had asked whether DOE retiree benefit plans are being subjected to the same requirements as are being applied to contractor retiree plans. Perhaps the most concerning statement I heard at the meeting was after the room was mostly empty. It was stated that the changes for 2015 will still leave the value of the total benefit package close to double the average of the other plans used in the contract comparison. This is just the start of erosion in the benefits if the contract requires our benefits to be “no more than 105% of the average.”
We are planning another commentary next week to revisit what happened when Kaiser-Hill came in as the new contractor in the late 1990s and announced to large numbers of salaried employees they were moving to third tier contracts and losing their benefits package. That commentary should remove any doubt that DOE will not hesitate use a new contract to reduce contractor employee benefits.
I’m anxious to see the details. Do you know when we’ll be apprised of the prices and plan details?
Please include us in you emails.
I don’t see when the pricing will be available. I’ll do another posting when I receive mine. I think we have to enroll by November 30 to begin receiving coverage by January 1st.
The paperwork I received at the meeting on July 19, say the prices will be available on October 1. This corresponds to what Medicare, etal tells us yearly. The United Health folks ( phone call ) said October 1 and they would actually be filling out forms starting Oct 13! Who do you believe!
More information needs to be forthcoming on the DOE question from Ferral Hobbs!
Thanks for keeping us informed. Leo
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The changes to the way our healthcare is delivered and paid for that we are seeing, despite disclaimers and denials from officials, are directly attributable to the philosophy of equal outcomes and “fairness” that has always been a hallmark of Progressive policy initiatives in general and this administration in particular. Obamacare is the most prominent, but far from the only, example.
Whenever Progressives perceive unequal outcomes, they assume that those who have achieved better results in life’s lottery did so by sheer luck or by taking advantage of their less fortunate peers. In either case, Progressives see this natural aspect of free market capitalism as a wrong to be righted. Their stated goal is “equal opportunity”, and too often that seems to translate into knocking some people down in order to lift others up. Any wonder that many on the Right smell the heavy odor of Socialism in this approach?
Rocky Flats retirees, through hard work, well-informed choices and perhaps a little luck, wound up with a platinum plus healthcare benefit. Contracts and promises notwithstanding, in the eyes of this uber-Progressive administration, that benefit was too rich a target to pass up.
Cheer up! At least we aren’t military veterans.
And they are saying, from the letter, that we MUST purchase from United Healthcare or loose coverage permanently… (I did not attend any meetings as I live in Mississippi currently.. but really want to move back home soon..)
My husband went on disability from Rocky Flats in 1995. He received a small pension but his healthcare was supposed to be part of the package, when I called benefits they said pension would stay, but health care could change, even thou since his pension was small it would be made up with healthcare.
Any possibility of a class action lawsuit? Didn’t Obama say that he wanted good healthcare,yet because ours was so good,he lowered it, nothing he has said has been true!!
I know several people are looking at what, if anything can be done. The people doing the presenting at the meeting I attended seemed to believe they had completely analyzed the “legality” of the new changes, and they seemed quite confident. More to follow as new information becomes available.
Thank you for the information, was unable to attend any of the meetings due to conflicting work schedule. Am I to understand the noted entry “They also must belong to AARP if they want to sign up for one of the three prescription drug plans.”
I want nothing to do with AARP, have continually responded to the many mailings received from them stating this and now am to believe that I have to have this. Wow, seems like a racket to me with someone getting their palms greased.
I just finished filling out my application for Medicare and am not looking forward to any of this in my future but do thank you whole heartily for the information supplied.
Any attempt to sue the Federal government is a waste of time, as it is immune to such actions unless it gives an injured party permission to sue. I might also point out that Federal law has mandated that those over 65 must enroll in Medicare, which would supersede any other contracts. Certainly the Fed and the plan administrators could have tried to fill in all the gaps between our original coverage and what Medicare proscribes, and to a great extent they have done so. Until the new coverage costs come out we won’t know.
The big unanswered question about our healthcare, and that of every other American under Obamacare, is: How much actual access can we expect to the care that our coverage promises? How will doctors, soon to be overloaded with patients and squeezed by shrinking reimbursements, react? How long will you wait to see one? The number of practicing physicians in the country is decreasing steadily just as the Affordable Care Act is adding tens of millions of new patients to the roles. The doctors who remain are taking fewer Medicare and Medicaid patients. As we are constantly reminded, the US is getting fatter, older and generally less healthy every year. Although the creators of Affordable Care Act have made a laudible effort to steer people toward more healthy life habits, we all are painfully aware of the limited success government has enjoyed attempting to positively influence human behavior. Given these sobering facts, is there any way not to conclude that we will soon face a healthcare deficit rivaling that other big deficit that nobody in government wants to talk about. When that happens, someone will have to do triage. Do you think doctors will? Remember the Death Panels?
When the supply of a good or service goes down and demand goes up, what happens to the price? Healthcare is expensive, but its cost under Obamacare will soon skyrocket and the pressure on insurance companies from Progressive, anti-profit politicians to hold down rates will drive them out of the business, leaving the Federal government as the insurer of last resort, and the liberal dream of a single payer healthcare system will emerge. Given the circumstances surrounding its birth, the Affordable Care Act may have been intended to fail in just this way.
So-called Socialized Medicine, as practiced in Canada and Europe, is constantly held up as the model which this country should embrace, and that system seems to work reasonably well in some quarters. But it has never been tried in a country as populous and diverse as this one. For better or worse, the grand experiment is now under way.
Thanks for the information. Since I live in Arizona I miss all the good meetings!
I am so glad to hear something!! Even if it doesn’t sound wonderful.
Thanks Again
Please add me to the mailing list and please let me know of any upcoming meetings.
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As a widow of a former Rocky Flats worker, I am worried about how to choose my new plan. Thanks for the information!
keep me posted
8/1/2015 they took my medicare premium benefit away because before Uhc I was under my husband’s medical plan. It’s been a benefit for 4 years . Can’t figure out what the hell they’re talking about. Any attorneys involved in this changeover.
Hi Kathy, I just discovered your comment, and I fear I have no answer. It sounds as if they are jerking you around over some sort of administrative justification. I predict we all will be disappointed when we see the new packages they release soon. I hope I’m wrong.
Farrel
Please include me in your email list for news letter. I saw on line the other day that United in not participating in the Affordable Health Care Act it several states. They say it is not profitable but yet were locked into United/AARP. I can’t get any of the advantage plans in NM because United did not negotiate a deal with NM that they felt was profitable for Rocky Flats Benefits, However United does have advantage plans in NM negotiated by other entities. What a mess! Every time I call the Benefits Center I have to go through a 30 minute explanation about my situation (working full time with benefits and over 65) before they understand that I am in a special exception class and have been allowed to delay enrolling in Medicare and United. Today I need to call the Benefits Center but can’t get through because the automated phone system say that I have not entered the correct information which I know that I did (6 times). Some idiot must have change something on their end and there is no phone no. for me to bypass the automated phone system and just talk to someone. We are all screwed.
Joe
I just found this site and want more information … I tried to e-mail Medical and Life Insurance Administration, Leanna Nighswonger, but my e-mail didn’t go through. Any suggestions … thanks Jan Murdoch, Bldg 886
First let me tell you I have no official capacity–I’ve been trying to tell people things I’ve learned. I haven’t used the following contact information for a while, but it’s the best I have at the moment. Benefits is (or was) 866-296-5036. For United Healthcare 877-893-7224. The number I have for Marlene Elenbass is 303-456-4747. The company that manages benefits is at http://www.rockymound.mercerhrs.com.Let me know at fdsmhobbs@aol.com if none of those work and I’ll try again, although I can’t promise anything. Good luck!
Wrestling with decision for pension termination. Thank you for your posts.