Helping Yourself - Union Benefits Trust

A
P u b l i c a t i o n
o f
t h e
U n i o n
B e n e f i t s
Tr u s t
DECEMBER 2007 • Volume 14 • No. 4
Helping Yourself
The Trustees and Staff of Union Benefits Trust wish you
and yours a safe, happy and healthful Holiday Season
and New Year!
WORKING SOLUTIONS ASSISTANCE
Over 1,000 members have sought more information
from Working Solutions on their finances, following
the expansion of this program on July 1. In case you
missed it, we added:
•
Financial Counseling,
•
Convenience Services and
•
College PayWay.
We know from member feedback that many are
feeling the pinch of the holiday season, along with the
relentless pressure from higher gas prices and heating
costs. This particular service may benefit those with
concerns about meeting the bills, but also those who
are doing well and need a bit of guidance.
There’s still time if you’d like to request any of the
following FREE information:
•
Rooting for More – Living paycheck to paycheck?
No financial plan because you feel like you can’t
save and it’s all too complicated? New to State
service? This packet is for you.
•
Going out to Pasture – Wanting to retire in 110 years? It’s never too early to plan the next big
stage in your life.
•
Raising P.I.G.lets – Teaching young kids
and young adults about responsible money
management.
•
Leaving the Straw House – Dealing with debts
and making the best choices possible in bad
situations, whether money, home or otherwise, and
helping you handle the emotions and stress that
accompany these times. This is information to help
get you on the road to being the P.I.G. in the brick
house.
•
Living High on the Hog – Keeping strong credit
healthy, reviewing options and your budget.
Consider some more advanced options and reach
out to a financial counselor today.
These articles are intended to provide educational
information, rather than offer advice.
In this issue
Act now and you can still be included in the drawing
for the free piggybank! If any or all of these topics
interest you, contact Working Solutions today at 800358-8515. You may also visit their thorough website
(linking to it through www.benefitstrust.org) for online
access to the articles, as well as a chance to use their
calculators and tools dealing with finances, credit,
investment vehicles and more.
• Helping Yourself
– Working Solutions Assistance
– Vision and Dental Exams
• Helping Others
– Working Solutions Assistance
– Life Insurance Checkup
• How Your Plans Help the
Community
• Where to Find Us
You can contact them as many
times as you need to, for as many
topics as you need. There is no cost
for this service, as the Benefits
Trust provides you with this
benefit automatically at hire.
MEET
HAMLET
We think he’s pretty
cute, for a pig! Thanks
to members of OCSEA
who helped name
this little guy at
their convention.
You’ll be seeing him
throughout the year,
as we take him on all sorts of adventures
in high finance and on the home front. We created the concept
of the “P.I.G.” to represent the “Positively Informed/Invested Guy or Gal.”
THIS LITTLE P.I.G. GOES TO MARKET
Hamlet had a lot of trips to make to the store. You see, it was almost the time
of the year when he and his P.I.G.lets celebrated a holiday dear to their family.
However, there were lots of stresses to the family because all of the shopping
for the holiday gifts, meals and travel overextended Hamlet and his family.
Fortunately for our little P.I.G., he knew about a wonderful program called
Working Solutions, free to him from the Union Benefits Trust. Hamlet called
Working Solutions to share his concerns, and they helped him by:
•
Listening to his concerns
•
Asking a few questions to better understand his situation and
•
Developing an action plan to help him get through.
To help Hamlet get to and through the marketplace, the Working Solutions
representative provided confidential information on how to save money
when shopping, stress relievers for Hamlet and also information about debt
consolidation.
Your experience will be different from Hamlet, but you can still learn to be a P.I.G.
with Working Solutions. Call them today at 800-358-8515 for assistance.
Union Benefits Trust.
Serving Union-represented
State employees in OCSEA/
AFSCME Local 11, District
1199/SEIU, OSTA, FOP/OLC,
SCOPE/OEA and CWA.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Eddie L. Parks, Chair,
OCSEA/AFSCME
Andy Douglas, Vice Chair,
OCSEA/AFSCME
Lisa Hetrick, Secretary,
District 1199/SEIU
Kathleen Stewart, Treasurer,
OCSEA/AFSCME
Ron Haines, FOP/OLC
Steven J. Loeffler, DAS/OCB
Vickie A. Miller, SCOPE/OEA
Annie Person, OCSEA/AFSCME
Larry K. Phillips, OSTA
Kevin Wamsley, OCSEA/AFSCME
Charlie Williamson,
OCSEA/AFSCME
Joe Wing, OCSEA/AFSCME
Get Your Regularly
Scheduled Vision
and Dental Exams
Did you know that a simple eye exam can detect a brain
tumor? Or that a pregnant woman who has her teeth
cleaned reduces the risk of a low-birthweight baby?
More studies have been released that demonstrate
the links between your dental or optical health and
your overall health.
Your vision and dental providers MAY be able
to identify or treat certain conditions, some of
which are higlighted below. In some cases,
being aware of one condition may signal that
you should check for others, and your dental
or vision provider will discuss this need with
you. You can then take that information to
your family doctor. After all, you are your
own best advocate for good health. You
may also want to alert your dentist or eye
doctor if you know you already have one of
these conditions as he or she may need to adjust your
Disease/Illness
Brain Tumors
Vision Exam
3
3
Bulimia
Cataracts
In Solidarity
Computer Vision Syndrome
Diabetes
Diabetic Retinopathy
Dry Eyes
Trust Talk contains only highlights
of your benefits and is not a plan
document. See the official plan
documents for full plan details or
if a discrepancy exists between
this newsletter and the plan
documents; the plan documents
are always the final authority.
Glaucoma
3
3
3
3
3
3
Gingivitis
Heart Disease(s)
High Blood Pressure
High Cholesterol
3
3
3
Kidney Problems
Leukemia
Macular Degeneration
Periodontal Disease
Thyroid Condition
Vitamin Deficiencies
3
3
3
care at the time of your exam or
Dental exams are covered at 100%
treatment. For instance, if you have
(network fee or R&C, depending
certain types of heart conditions,
on which plan you have), with two
your dentist may administer
per plan year (July 1 - June 30).
antibiotics prior to treatments,
including cleanings.
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Osteoporosis
Some Cancers
Dental Exam
In the vision plans, all you pay is a
low copay – $5 in EyeMed or $10
Routine screenings are part of
in VSP – and you can receive an
normal dental and vision exams.
exam once every 12 months from
the date of your last exam.
3
3
3
3
3
HELPING OTHERS
WORKING SOLUTIONS ASSISTANCE
It isn’t just for financial matters. And it isn’t just for crisis moments. This is the one program that can help you
help those you care about, even if they don’t meet the “traditional” definition of dependent. Under Working
Solutions, a dependent is “anyone who impacts your ability to work/has a role in your life.”
This plan can help in so many situations, whether you are worried about an elderly aunt or uncle living halfway
across the country or across the street, your daughter’s friend who seems to know too much and is affecting
all of your kids’ attitudes, your high school friend who was recently diagnosed with a chronic condition or your
neighbor whose pet died. You care about all these people, and Working Solutions can help you find the best care
for them, while making sure you don’t run yourself down in the process.
Call today! 800-358-8515.
LIFE INSURANCE CHECKUP
While open enrollment won’t
happen until spring, now is a good
time to think about life insurance
and review its role in your personal
and family’s financial plan.
If you died tomorrow, how would
your loved ones pay the bills?
Would they struggle to pay the
funeral home, much less the
bills like car payments and your
mortgage? Or have you saved
enough through other means to
make sure the daily expenses are
covered, along with other financial
goals you might have? Without
your contribution to the household,
would your survivors be financially
covered for long-term goals?
Losing a loved one causes
hardship on many levels, but the
range of emotions should not
be compounded by financial
difficulties, and won’t be with
proper planning.
Life insurance pays cash to your
beneficiary when you die. Most
people choose their immediate
family members as beneficiaries,
so in this case, the payout can help
your family cover necessities like
living expenses and mortgage
payments, and also cover college
savings or spousal retirement
expenses. We’ve outlined several
scenarios below that will apply
to many of our members. Please
review which situation best
describes you.
Married, with or without minor
children – Most families depend
on two incomes to make ends
meet. If you died suddenly, could
your family maintain their standard
of living on your spouse’s income
alone? If your spouse stays at
home, remember that the work
he or she does has value, and that
the replacement value of that
work needs to be covered. In other
words, if your spouse had to work
to pay the bills in your absence,
your spouse’s housework (childcare,
transportation, cooking, cleaning,
etc.) could cost up to $40,000
annually. Could your spouse afford
to pay someone for these services?
members who survive them. Will
your loved ones be burdened
financially when you die?
Married, with children who
support themselves – If you put
your children through college
or otherwise helped them
establish themselves in the world,
congratulations; however, that
doesn’t mean that family financial
obligations are covered. Your
retirement savings and benefits
(including State Retirement
Systems and Social Security if you
are eligible) might not take care of
what lies ahead, even if you have
paid off your mortgage.
If you died today, your spouse
may have several decades of life
alone to meet basic expenses,
including all healthcare and longterm care costs. You may also want
to consider what level of financial
legacy/inheritance you want to
pass along to any children or
grandchildren.
Retiring soon – Life insurance may
not factor into your retirement
plans, but it may always be part
of your financial plan. Estate taxes
can eat much of your legacy. The
proceeds of a life insurance policy
are payable immediately, allowing
heirs to take care of estate taxes,
funeral costs, and other debts
without having to hastily liquidate
other assets, often at a fraction of
their true value. And life insurance
proceeds are generally income tax
free and can be arranged to avoid
probate (consult an attorney).
Remember that the supplemental
life insurance you carry on you, the
member, can go with you when you
leave State service for any reason,
including retirement.
Single parents –You do it all for
your kids, and you have so much
to consider. In addition to making
sure your will and other estate
documents are current, you also
need to make sure that your
children will be fully covered until
at least they turn 18, if not up to
and through college.
Small business owner – What
would happen to your business if
you died tomorrow? To protect the
concern you’ve worked so hard to
establish, you want to make sure
that your death (or the death of
other key employees/co-owners)
won’t tank the entire operation.
Single, no children – Many single
people don’t think about life
insurance. However, some who
are technically single are in longterm relationships with partners,
and other single people provide
financial support for siblings or
aging parents. Others may be
carrying significant debt that they
wouldn’t want to pass on to family
*******
If you saw yourself in any of these
situations, review your financial
plan. You may have enough in your
savings, deferred compensation
and other funds that you feel
protected. Or you may have
enough life insurance purchased
independently, through a spouse’s
employer or the Trust, and your
needs are covered. If you would
like to purchase or increase your
coverage, the next possible open
enrollment for supplemental life
insurance will be in spring 2008, for
July 1, 2008, coverage. Remember,
supplemental life insurance is
group term life insurance, and is
available to you, your spouse and
your children.
You can always update your
beneficiary by writing to Prudential.
This is a critical way to make
sure that you’ve ensured that
your benefit will go quickly to
the person of your choice. We’ll
talk more about how to choose
a beneficiary in the next issue of
Trust Talk.
HOW YOUR PLANS HELP THE COMMUNITY
‘Tis the season of giving...we recognize all the work
enables their employees to support worthy causes.
of the Combined Charitable Campaign, and salute all
They also provide monetary awards to promote the
who have contributed.
charitable efforts of clients, doctors and their staff.
WHERE TO FIND US
As some members have inquired of us what to do with
MetLife/Hyatt – Awards grants to where their
˛
their old glasses, we talked with the eye plans about
employees volunteer, including: Dayton Habitat
the opportunities. We share what we’ve learned below,
for Humanity, Special Olympics—Dayton, Rett
and encourage you to partake if you can. Since all of
Syndrome Research Foundation, Cincinnati, American
our plans have charitable endeavors, locally, nationally
Heart Association, Miami Valley, American Red
and worldwide, we provide this round up for your
Cross—Firelands Chapter, Canine Companions
information; more is available online.
for Independence, Delaware, American Diabetes
EyeMed - Providing free vision care and eyewear to
www.benefitstrust.org
%
800-228-5088 or
614-508-2255
-
390 Worthington Rd., Suite B,
Westerville OH 43082-8332
Association, Cincinnati.
underprivileged individuals in North America and
Prudential – Honors service-oriented secondary
in developing countries around the world. These
school students, gives grants to community
)
programs have helped five million people on five
involvements of their employees and retirees, makes
https://www.benefitstrust.org/email.htm
continents and in hundreds of communities across
social investments to revitalize neighborhoods and
North America. You can help by donating your used
coordinates grassroots community efforts.
eyewear that you don’t plan to reuse the frames for
– almost any EyeMed network location will accept your
glasses.
to health care for children who couldn’t otherwise pay,
through its foundation.
VSP – Helps provide free eyecare and prescription
eyewear to over 50,000 low-income, uninsured
Others
Helping
Yourself,
Helping
PRSRT STD
U.S. Postage
PAID
Columbus, OH
Permit No. 6595
children, and offers a paid volunteer program that
Union Benefits Trust
390 Worthington Rd., Suite B
Westerville, OH 43082-8332
Working Solutions – Supports and facilitates access
Email us securely through:
If you wear glasses, read
the article at left!
You can help!