Feb 1, 2007 2:21 PM
While all eyes are on what the new Congress is up to in these crucial early days, there are issues closer to home to look at.
Thirty years ago, before there were Welfare Fund benefits, the leadership of the retirees’ chapter organized a self-insured program as a supplement to their health coverage. Since then, SHIP (Supplemental Health Insurance Program) has continued to improve benefits for retirees year after year, defraying constantly rising health costs by putting money back into our pockets.
The SHIP Board of Trustees — composed of UFT and RTC Executive Board members — has raised the annual premium to $60 for the more than 59,000 retirees and spouses enrolled in the program. Those enrollment statistics indicate that 50,800 of the RTC members in the program are under age 80; of the 8,900 who are over age 80, 1,300 are between 90 and 99 with 22 who are more than 100.
So it’s pretty clear that SHIP is a very important added asset for our retirees particularly since we know medical expenses escalate with age. It’s also clear that even with the increased premium SHIP is also still the best bargain in town.
As a UFT retiree you are covered by a basic health plan, optional benefits rider (the UFT Welfare Fund refunds up to $660), Medicare, full Medicare Part B reimbursement for yourself and your spouse/domestic partner ($938.40 this year) and UFT Welfare Fund benefits.
Over the past several years we have seen our SHIP reimbursement benefits improve, especially expenses for at-home nurse’s aides/home health aides for which SHIP will reimburse 50 percent for out-of-pocket costs to a lifetime maximum of $20,000, and other benefits such as the dental stipend, hearing aids, podiatry visits and many more.
When drug costs started climbing, SHIP, in 2005, began reimbursing out-of-pocket co-payments for mail order prescriptions after the first $500 to an annual maximum of $1,000. That benefit cost SHIP more than $3 million. In ’06 that changed. Medicare Part D rules would not let SHIP continue making reimbursement payments. Non-Medicare-eligible members continue to receive the benefit but Medicare-eligible members are no longer entitled to prescription reimbursements.
There are benefit improvements that became effective on Jan. 1 of this year. Now, because most retirees use ambulettes more often than ambulances, SHIP will reimburse up to $300 annually for the combined services of either, up from $200. SHIP will reimburse everyone up to an annual maximum of $750 if you are required to pay an out-of-pocket deductible when admitted as an in-patient to a hospital. For orthotics and orthopedic shoes, reimbursement is up to $200 annually with the same lifetime maximum of $1,000.
SHIP Director Irene Lospenuso reminds members that SHIP is not an insurance program but a reimbursement program so members must include the proper documentation required for each claim before they can be reimbursed. Do not send original copies of required documents because they will not be returned. Instead, to provide proof of payment, copy the front and back of your canceled check or copy the check from your bank statement.
Pointing to stacks of several hundred returned letters notifying members of the SHIP premium increase and some bills, she stressed the need for members to notify the UFT membership department of change of address.
Lospenuso also said a new Ship booklet is being readied, detailing all the benefits — old and new — available to retirees who are enrolled in the program.
In the meantime, you can download the entire SHIP booklet or a SHIP claim form from the UFT Web site at www.uft.org. Click on My Chapter, then News & Services under Retiree, then SHIP under Benefits and, finally, SHIP Booklet.
Since SHIP pays you directly, missing documentation will hold up payment until the claim is properly filed. Remember to file your claim within one year of the date of service or payment by your carrier, whichever is later.
If you have any questions about SHIP benefits or procedures, call the SHIP office at 1-212-228-9060, Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or write to SHIP at Bowling Green Station, PO Box 390, New York, NY 10274.