Apr 24, 2008 10:39 AM
As a UFT member, you also belong to NYSUT, our state affiliate, and the AFT, our national affiliate. That makes you eligible for an array of optional supplemental benefits offered through these umbrella labor organizations.
NYSUT Member Benefits Trust and the AFT can offer cost-effective rates for these benefits because they leverage the buying power of NYSUT’s more than 585,000 members and the AFT’s 1.4 million members. Another plus is that NYSUT Member Benefits Trust and the AFT will act as your advocate if you ever experience a problem with any of their endorsed programs.
Insurance benefits
Insurance offerings endorsed by the NYSUT Member Benefits Trust include life, long-term care, automobile, homeowners/
renters, disability, wrap plan term life insurance coordination plan, and accidental death and dismemberment. You might consider using these rates as a benchmark when you go shopping for insurance.
All new UFT members are automatically insured for $25,000 term life insurance for one year at no cost to them, with a no-obligation option to continue coverage after the year’s term at their cost.
The Member Benefits-endorsed catastrophe major medical insurance benefit, which supplements your basic health insurance or Medicare, offers excellent protection at an affordable price. After the deductible is met, the plan covers eligible expenses up to $2 million. The plan also includes some nursing home care and home health care benefits. You can apply for coverage for your spouse or dependents as long as they are covered by basic health insurance and are age 79 or younger.
The premiums for catastrophe major medical insurance are based on age and number of people covered. For example, if you are under 40, you pay $51.16 in premiums a year for yourself or $163.16 to insure yourself, your spouse and your children. If you are in your 50s, you pay $165.66 in premiums annually for yourself or $392.24 to also cover your spouse and children. You can save 10 percent by having the premiums deducted (in 20 installments per year) from your paycheck or from 12 monthly pension benefits.
Legal Service Plan
Member Benefits also endorses a legal service plan that for a $70 annual fee gives you unlimited access to toll-free legal advice weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as well as a toll-free hotline for urgent legal assistance outside these hours.
The basic plan also provides the following:
The Legal Service Plan covers the member, the member’s spouse or domestic partner, unmarried dependent children and dependent parents.
It particularly makes sense to enroll in the plan if you are thinking about buying a home, since the plan offers locked-in low rates for house closings.
All UFT members may enroll for free in the New Member Legal Service Plan for their first six months on the job. To receive coverage, all they have to do is complete and return the New Member Legal Service Plan enrollment form. They have the option to renew at the $70 annual fee after that.
All UFT retiree members are covered by the UFT Welfare Fund Retiree Legal Plan.
AFT’s many offerings
The AFT offers its own attractive spectrum of supplemental benefits to UFT members. The AFT + member benefits offerings include mortgages (for houses, condos and apartments), credit counseling and loans. The AFT, like NYSUT Member Benefits Trust, also endorses a variety of different insurances.
Through AFT +, you are also eligible for discounts on car rentals, magazines, flowers, hotels, health clubs and more. You can even buy pet insurance.
Go to www.aftplus.org to read more about AFT + member benefits and how to access them. For more information about NYSUT Member Benefits Trust-endorsed benefits, go to www.memberbenefits.nysut.org, send an e-mail to benefits@ nysutmail.org, or call the NYSUT Member Benefits Trust at 1-800-626-8101.