During the months of June and July, the Attrition Program brought the Benefit Office a volume of work like we have never seen before. We’ve also been busy with health insurance changes now that Priority Health HMO is open to employees and retirees in the Grand Rapids area.  Priority Health signed a contract with Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo and have also contracted with several physicians in the Kalamazoo area.  A list of participating Kalamazoo physicians is available in the Benefit Office.

Health Care Option Change

Active employees and retirees who want to change healthcare options must contact Fidelity at 1(800) 489-4646.  The request must be made on Fidelity’s recorded line and will become effective on the first of the next month following the request.  It may be a good idea to update all prescriptions prior to switching healthcare options, because of delays in activating the new plan.

Prescription Increase

Effective June 1, 2006 co-pays for prescriptions have gone up for the hourly program. Active employees and general retirees can expect to pay $10 for generics, $15 for brand name, and $18 for ED drugs through the mail order program.

Delphi Employees

Delphi employees transferring here to GM need to contact Fidelity at 1(800) 489-4646 10 to 14 days after their date of transfer to set up benefit elections for healthcare and life insurance choices. A message was sent to the Coopersville and Burton Street Delphi plants telling future transferees to order prescriptions before they transfer.

Fall Retirees

We are working to prepare worksheets and files for the 26 employees who are planning to retire

in November and December, along with the 169 who have signed up to retire in January of 2007. Pension papers can be requested no earlier than 90 days prior to your retirement. Please make sure you have met with your respective Benefit Rep to be sure we have all the information we need to order your papers. We want to be ready to start January pensions no later than Tuesday, October 3.

Busy Office and Phone Lines

Retirees at Alpine Local 1231 and Kalamazoo Local 488 do not have Benefit Reps at their locations any longer to service their needs. We have been asked to assist these folks in addition to our present workload.  This has made for a very busy office and phone lines.  We may not get to your call right away, but please leave a message and we will get back to you.

Tax Liability

Solidarity House has informed us that a husband and wife who both have healthcare coverage are subject to increased tax liability regarding the Legal Services benefit. To avoid both parties being taxed on the same benefit, notice of dual coverage from the tax paying party must be received no later than Friday, September 29, 2006. Call 1(800) 521-7818, ext 517.  If the GM/Delphi couple has already made this call in the past, it does not have to be repeated.  When you phone, you will be asked to provide the following information for both eligible parties:

1. Name   (employee, retiree, surviving spouse)

2. Social Security Number

3. Location of Employment

4. Local Union Number

Congratulations to George Casarez, Alternate Benefit Rep, who retired August 1 with 30.4 years.

Your Local 730 Benefit Plans Reps