Health Insurance Tips
Any retired members who have questions or concerns they have not been able to resolve with UHC are asked to contact the TRB Escalation Team for support by email at:
HealthInsurance.TRB@ct.gov
OptumRx– the pharmacy plan that is identical for both the Supplement and Advantage plans
Monitor your prescriptions carefully because there seem to be shortages of particular medications. If your exact medication is out of stock, you will receive an email indicating that. You may need to seek an alternate source, such as a local pharmacy, and it is possible that the medication may be out of stock there, too. Just as there have been shortages of children’s pain medications, some prescription medications have been difficult to find. Be certain you have what you need before you run out of your medications.
Do you receive any medications that must be kept cool? OptumRx sends them with ice packs, just as Express Scripts did. You may not have noticed one difference: the OptumRx ice packs contain a gel that can be used as nitrogen-based plant food. Look at the directions on the pack. Your plants will thank you with bright, shiny leaves.
UHC
Durable medical equipment and other supplies- If you receive medical supplies on a quarterly
basis, all of the necessary supplies are to be bundled. This means you should only have a single
co-pay for the supplies you need. Medicare indicates these supplies are to be bundled, so that
means, regardless of which TRB insurance plan you have, you should have a single co-pay for
the supplies. Check your statements and bills.
CIGNA– identical for both Supplement and Advantage plans
Are you aware that people with certain medical conditions are eligible for enhanced dental care such as additional periodontal care? See below for information about conditions which can provide eligibility for enhanced dental care. These enhanced services are available through CIGNA Dental Oral Health Integration Program. To register for the enhanced services, sign onto your mycigna.com account and scroll down the page to the section- The Cigna Dental Oral Health Integration Program® to find out how to apply for this enhanced coverage.
Qualifying Medical Conditions
You must currently be under the care of a doctor for any of the following conditions to be eligible for enhanced dental care and you must apply and be approved before making a claim for these services:
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Chronic Kidney Disease
- Diabetes
- Head and Neck Cancer Radiation
- Heart Disease
- Huntington’s Disease
- Lupus
- Maternity
- Opioid Misuse and Addiction
- Organ Transplants
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Sjogren’s Syndrome
- Stroke
TRB and TRB Retired Teacher Representatives Election
If you want to ignore this topic, and we get it, feel free to skip this section. The window of time from the release of ballots and information to the close of voting may be too short for this information to reach you before voting. It is only provided for informational purposes.
Who are the TRB members and what has been going on lately? From the TRB website, which contains an enormous amount of information:
The Connecticut Teachers’ Retirement System is governed by Chapter 167A of the Connecticut General Statutes as amended through the current session of the State Legislature. The System is administered by the Teachers’ Retirement Board, located in Hartford. The Board consists of fourteen members: four active teacher members, two retired teacher members, the Commissioner of the Department of Education, the State Treasurer, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and five public members appointed by the Governor. All Board members serve without pay but are reimbursed for necessary expenses.
Member terms are for four years. Retired teachers have been lobbying to gain two additional members on the TRB since there are now so many retirees, but it has not happened, although there is a new proposal to the Legislature, once again, to make that change.
This year, two of the active teacher representative slots are up for election and there are two candidates for those two openings. The two retired teacher representatives are also up for election, but this year brought an outpouring of people choosing to run for election. Apparently, even though the process was rather cumbersome, including making a trip to Hartford as part of the process, eight retired educators completed that process and were approved as candidates by the TRB. Two candidates subsequently withdrew, leaving six candidates for two vacancies.
A curious feature impacts the election of retired teacher representatives in that they are voted on by both retired and active educators, unlike the active representatives who are only voted on by active members. Paper ballots were sent to retired teachers and electronic ballots were sent to active teachers. The ballots were accompanied by brief bio information on each candidate, but not information about their views or why they chose to run for election. The two retired teacher groups in CT dealt with the election in very different ways. Here is what
information was made available to retired teachers.
First, along with the ballot, the vendor sent a brief bio on each candidate, which read like a resume of each person’s work in education and related associations. The CEA-Retired sent a letter that outlined their process- interview only the four candidates who are members of CEA-R. One subsequently withdrew, so their letter endorsed two candidates with considerable experience on the TRB as either an active or retired teacher representative and states that the additional CEA-R member/candidate is not endorsed by them. In some instances, the endorsement letter arrived the same day as the ballot and was followed up by the same information through email and then several additional email notices that only contained the names of the two CEA-R members who were endorsed. It is presumed that the same information was sent to all active teachers who are members of CEA, so these endorsements were very widespread. One should note that the two candidates endorsed by the CEA-R represent a combined total of close to 40 years of representation on the TRB as either active or retired teacher representatives.
The ARTC group contacted all candidates, regardless of their membership in one or both of the retired teacher groups. Candidates were given a questionnaire that asked about why they chose to run, what they felt were the greatest strengths and weaknesses of the TRB, and how they felt they might contribute as a representative for retired teachers. The information was emailed to all ARTC members. No endorsements were made, suggesting that the information provided would let voters make an informed decision. It can be read here:
https://www.artct.org/view/download.php/misc-files/candi
Some interesting topics and ideas emerged from the ARTC information that helps explain why there was unusually high interest in the election this time around. Two concepts that were mentioned frequently when discussing the TRB were transparency and rubberstamp. How might candidates cite those areas for improvement? It turns out that TRB meetings are open to the public and can be watched on Zoom, something increasing numbers of retired teachers have been doing. The TRB website also lists the Agenda, Minutes, and Transcripts for the meetings. You can find the TRB meeting dates and a link to join meetings here:
https://portal.ct.gov/TRB/Content/Other-Resources/Meeting-Schedules/Board-Meetings/2023
It seems that many retired teachers continue to have questions about the health insurance change from Anthem and UnitedHealth Care. Members repeatedly ask for the breakdown of costs that are part of each plan, when the most helpful explanation of the difference in costs is the base premium paid by members in the Advantage plan that sets the contributions from the State and from the Health Insurance Fund into which teachers contribute while working. When that cost was reduced in the latest contract, those subsidies declined and retirees’ Supplement plan costs grew. A bill has been proposed that would require the State and the Health Insurance Fund to contribute 1/3 of the cost of the Supplement plan, something to watch. Questions about the health insurance change and the process seemed to catch many members by surprise and have caused them to look more closely at the operations of the TRB, resulting in many candidates expressing interest in serving.
Among the strengths of the TRB that were cited by candidates in the ARTC survey were the reliability with which they handle disbursements to retirees and the amount of information available on the website. Interested in learning more about the history of health insurance provided through the CTRS? Read about it here:
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/TRB/Content/StatisticsResearch/SR_HIHISTRY.pdf
Care to read actuarial reports about the systems financial health? They can also be found on the home page under Agency Resources and then Statistics and Research. You can find information about Legislation and Policies under Agency Resources, too. There is a wealth of comprehensive information available on the TRB website- https://portal.ct.gov/trb
The Connecticut Legislature
Connecticut Legislature is back in session. The ARTC closely follows legislative proposals that might impact teachers or retired teachers who live in Connecticut. Currently, they have been advised of 59 such proposals! A number of them are variations of tax breaks for seniors on pension or Social Security receipts. It seems that Connecticut might be sensitive to the lists that continue to cite it as among the fewer and fewer states who tax Social Security benefits. Other topics include such varied issues as an act concerning an exit survey for teachers or an act concerning the management of the Teachers’ Retirement System by the State Controller, or
and act concerning Retiree Members of the Teachers’ Retirement Board. At this point, all proposals are very preliminary, but ARTC is watching on our behalf. Be sure to support ARTC.
Income Tax Season
ARTC has provided this clear summary:
ARTC has received questions from members regarding their Connecticut income tax filing for
their 2022 income. Retired teachers have a choice between two CT pension exemptions on
their State income tax. Each individual must decide which choice is best considering one’s
income.
The two laws covering tax exemptions for 2022 pension income are as follows:
- Non Income Based: A 50% tax exemption on your teacher pension only, regardless of the amount.
- Income Based: A 100% tax exemption on pension and annuities if you qualify. To qualify for this exemption a single tax payer must have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) below $75,000 and a couple’s AGI below $100,000.
SFCRTA Book Grant Awards for Future Educators
Each year five Book Awards of $2,000 each are given by our local chapter of retired teachers, The Southern Fairfield County Retired Teachers’ Association (SFCRTA). Applicants attending high schools in Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton should be those students who are pursuing a career in education. Applications are available on our website (SFCRTA.com) and are due no later than May 1, 2023.
Please spread the word and encourage students to apply.
Resources
Connecticut’s Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) provides assistance for winter heating costs
for thousands of Connecticut homeowners and renters who meet state income guidelines.
Congress recently approved $6 billion in LIHEAP funds to help low-income families nationwide,
which funds CEAP. Connecticut also provided an additional $30 million to the program.
Customers can learn more and apply online at CT.gov/heatinghelp or through their local Community Action Agency (CAA). Customers can find their local agency at 211ct.org or by calling 211 or Eversource.
Operation Fuel offers year-round emergency energy and utility assistance for customers facing a financial crisis. Customers can contact Operation Fuel at 860-243-2345 or apply online at OperationFuel.org/gethelp or through a fuel bank listed on their website.
None of this Newsletter was written by ChatGPT- yet.
Our membership goes from – January to December. If you have not yet joined, enclosed you will find our membership renewal information for 2023. If a membership envelope is not enclosed, you are already a member for 2023.
Remember: Numbers matter and we still face many important issues regarding
our pension and health insurance.
Membership Tips
- If in doubt about your membership status, please contact Janess Coffina at janessco@gmail.com
- Make sure your check is complete (date, amount, signature.)
- Retain the membership card portion.
- Include your check with the completed information section of the card in the envelope provided.
- Do not staple your check to the card.