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The Retirees' Newsletter

The Retirees' Association, (Faculty, Librarian, Administrator), University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada

Vol. VII , No, 5, December, 1997

EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER ON HEALTH CARE BENEFITS

The editor of The Newsletter, Bill Phillips, is one of three retiree members on the Pension and Benefits Committee of the Faculty Association. Recently he wrote "some personal thoughts" on health-care benefits to the Chairperson of that Committee.

I HAVE AN IMPRESSION, Mr. Chairman, that many members of our Retirement Plan, who have not yet retired, may not fully appreciate the burden which will fall on them when they retire, and they find that almost all of the health benefits they have enjoyed for years prior to their retirement, have stopped abruptly on the day of their retirement (note 1).

Thus, at the very time of their lives when the need for health coverage is becoming critical to them, our retirees find themselves virtually stripped of such coverage, and that they must dig deep into their pension income in order to restore it.

The principal components that make up the health-benefit package that is available to retirees through Green Shield, and the premium rates they must pay for these, are as follows: (note 2)

1) prescription drug coverage $ 230.22

2) dental coverage $ 35.49

3) extended health care $ 17.51

4) semi-private $ 37.59

5) out-of-province $ 9.96

_______

Total Cost per Month $   330.77

Total Cost per Year $3969.25

A RETIREE IS FREE TO CHOOSE from among the components shown above: either (a) the "full package"; or (b) the "full package without dental (but with drug)"; or (c) the "full package without drug coverage (but with dental)".

The premium for the "full package" is (as shown above) $330.77 per month; for the "full package without dental coverage", $295.28 per month; and for the "full package without drug coverage", $100.55 per month.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, most retirees find the cost of the "full package" virtually prohibitivebecause of the high premium for drug coverage. Thus, it appears, most settle for the "full package without drugs but including dental", which package itself runs slightly higher than $100. per month or $1200. per year.

The fact that the premium for drug coverage is so high for our retirees is unsettling. Retirement is the time of life at which the risk of a possible illness which will require very high drug outlays, is at its highest. Government drug assistance to retirees has been decreasing, to the point where most of our retirees now see themselves becoming stranded between the knowledge that they may at any time need the added coverage such as that of the Green Shield Plan, and a conviction that it is beyond what they can reasonably afford.

I BELIEVE THE CASE FOR SOME ASSISTANCE HERE IS A STRONG ONE. I personally find it hard to believe that, in the initial setting-up of our retirement plan, it was ever contemplated that a retired member would have to pay almost $4,000 off the top of his or her pension, in order to receive a basic health benefits package, including reasonable drug coverage, for the member and his or her spouse...

Note 1: I say "almost all" because, with the exception of Dental Coverage, on which the University does currently pay 50 per cent of the premium costs, retirees must themselves pay the full premium costs of all the health benefit coverage they choose to re-instate after they have retired.

Note 2: Premiums shown are called "family" premiums, and they are roughly 2.4 times as high as the "single" premiums.

NOW, ABOUT THAT $33.000 00 BURSARY FUND: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

WHEN DID THE FUND COME INTO BEING?

It was approved by the Association at its October Meeting in 1994.

WHERE IS THE MONEY KEPT?

The Association asked its members, and all others who wish to give, to donate directly to the University of Windsor, specifying that their donation was to be added to the Retirees' Bursary Fund. This means that all donors receive an income tax receipt from the University for their donations

The Fund, therefore, is the property of the University, and is under the control and supervision of the University's Office of Student Awards. The Funds are invested according to the University's investment policy.

WHO WILL DECIDE WHEN TO START PAYING BURSARIES?

The Association will, on the advice of the Student Awards Office. One suggestion has been that we invite the Director of Student Awards, Orville Houser, to our Spring Meeting to help in the decision on the size of awards and on the procedure for making them.

HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT CONTRIBUTING TO THE FUND?

Let me count the ways... There is really no limit. You'll find one suggestion on page 3 above... Or you may want to honour the memory of a family member or a friend who has died. When death occurs, the question always arises: what to do to show one's respect? A donation to our Bursary Fund is the ideal answer! One contribution helps memorialize the individual, and at one stroke, it helps a deserving student and our University as well!

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