Changes to MPI Eligibility

Notification has been sent out from the MPI Plan offices regarding the change in eligibility requirements that will take place in August of this year. Steve Hulett noted the change in his post some sixteen months back.

The short of it:

Starting in late August, the amount of hours required to remain eligible in the MPI Health Plan will rise from 300 to 400. ...

The long of it:

* Eligibility into the Health Plans is established by working at Guild signatory studios. Qualifying for eligibility takes more hours (600) to front-load a Bank of Hours as well.

* The Bank of Hours will remain capped at 450 hours per participant.

* The rise in eligibility requirements will help offset the rising cost of healthcare. Employer contributions to the plan will increase as members work more hours to stay eligible.

* The IATSE has been working feverishly to battle the rising costs of health care while maintaining the low-cost plan options for its members. Jeff Massie copied an article written in the IATSE Organizer for our blog back in August of last year. Called The (not-so) Perfect Storm, it describes the reasons for the change and the steps the IATSE and the board of the MPI Health and Pension plans have taken. Of note:

While the IATSE has gone the extra mile in protecting our MPIHP Health Plan, the storm is just too intense to weather by such methods alone. [M]ulti-employer plans like MPIHP are working extra hard to ensure Plan dollars are spent as efficiently as possible.

You can find more information on MPI Health and Pension plans at the MPI's website. http://www.mpiphp.org/. You can find the revised Qualification and Eligibility chart on their site by clicking this link. A copy of the letter sent to participating members can be found at this link.