Important News & Announcements

School Letters Due February 1, 2008

Retiree Premiums Adjusted Effective January 1, 2008 Letter

Condell Medical

January 11, 2008 

To:      All Retirees under Pipe Fitters’ Local 597 Welfare Fund 

From: Peter A. Driscoll, Welfare Fund Administrator 

RETIREE PREMIUMS ADJUSTED EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2008 

The Board has established a policy of adjusting the Retiree self-pay
amounts (premiums) every January 1. Retiree premiums are based on a percentage of the full, active employee COBRA rate. For a person
eligible for Medicare, the premium is 9% of the full, active employee
COBRA rate. For a person not eligible for Medicare, the Standard
Retiree Premium is 15% of the full, active employee COBRA rate.
Because the COBRA rates were increased, the Standard Retiree
Premiums were adjusted effective January 1, 2008. Separate rates also
apply to disability retirees under age 60 who are substantially employed
as well as to retirees who are working in the pipe fitting industry in ‘non-covered’ employment. The old and new monthly rates are as follows. 

If you have any questions or if I can be of further assistance please contact me.

October 23, 2007 

Re:  Condell Medical Center 

Dear Participant: 

At the beginning of October, we were notified that Condell Medical Center had withdrawn from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois PPO network.

Many of you may have already received a notification from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois discussing the withdrawal of Condell from their network.   

This letter is to confirm that the various Condell Medical Center facilities, and the physicians that only have admitting privileges to Condell, will no longer be considered in-network.  This means that for services that you receive at Condell facilities or from Condell providers on and after November 1, 2007 you could have very substantial out-of-pocket expenses that are not covered by the Plan.   

This is because Condell no longer has an obligation to accept our fee allowance which is the amount that major insurers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois allow for services. 

For those of you that are currently receiving treatments from the Condell Medical Center facilities and physicians, there are transitional rules for certain types of situations and these are outlined on page 2 of the attached letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.  

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact our Customer Service department.   

                                                                                    Sincerely, 

                                                                                    Peter A. Driscoll

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