In these days of rising health costs and uncertainty, as our Health Plan approaches its next open enrollment, it’s more important than ever to understand the available alternatives under TAG’s health insurance.
At the next membership meeting on Tuesday, March 30, we will be hearing about the options we have for health coverage. Present to answer our questions will be GREG MASON of the Motion Picture Industry Health Plan/Blue Shield, ANDREW HUSS of Healthnet and ALEX JAUREQUI of Kaiser Permanente. Come prepared to learn about taking advantage of the choices available to us.
Also on the agenda is a discussion of the Executive Board’s recommendations for the TAG holiday party, and the election of delegates to the IATSE District Two convention to be held in Universal City in May.
The meeting is open to TAG members only; inactive members (on withdrawal or suspension) have voice but no vote. The meeting will be held at the Guild's headquarters at 1105 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank. Pizza and refreshments will be served starting at 6:30 pm; the meeting and panel start at 7 pm.
Hulett adds his two cents:
I've gotten first and second-hand complaints about changes in the Motion Picture Industry Health Plan, and it's important for people to show up and ask questions of the Health Plan reps. Here's a few pieces of information to know.
* The Plan faced annual health service increases of 9-10% and had a $528 million deficit over three years to fill.
* The Plan filled the deficit with 50% additional monies from the companies and 50% cost-shifting. (In other words, participants have higher co-pays.)
* Despite the above, there are many ways to minimize out-of-pocket expenses. Here are three:
1) Use the Motion Picture and Television Fund Clinics.
2) Use hospitals in the Blue Shield network.
3) For extensive and expensive dental work (because your mouth is a mess) use DeltaCare USA, the pre-paid dental plan ....
By all means come to the meeting and get all your questions answered.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment