DONALD JACKSON, DIRECTOR OF RETIREES
1025 Seminole Avenue
Aiken, SC 29801
Cell: 803-215-3921
E-mail: jacksonjackdf@aol.com
Proud Grandfather and Grandmother! Granddaughter Presley Star Bennett.
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November 29, 2009
Retirement’s Corner
Hello to everyone! First, I would like to extend my holiday greetings to all. I hope everyone had a joyous Thanksgiving. Be careful
on your routes because it is about to get dangerous. Crime tends to rise around the holidays.
I want to start with all the talk about Health Care Reform. This is the hot topic that is on every news channel and newspaper. We
need to be following this story and get to the bottom of what exactly this reform entails. This healthcare reform has had a lot of words
like Medicare. A lot of us are already on Medicare or some will be on it soon. I will be going on Medicare next year and it really is
a great concern. Healthcare premiums have been rising for years, but this healthcare reform could really hit the seniors particular
hard. According to AARP, plans for 2010 involving Medicare will have higher premium's, have larger co-pays to doctors and hospitals,
and higher annual limits for out of pocket expenses. At this time we do not really know what healthcare reform will do to Medicare,
but in my opinion if you are trying to get almost everybody in America some type of healthcare plan, the cost will have to come
from somewhere. It's usually the "little people" meaning the middle class who suffer the consequences. If you would like to
start looking at 2010's Medicare plans, a good place to start is at www.medicare.gov to look at various plans side by side.
Speaking of healthcare plans, I would like to commend and praise the NALC health insurance plan. You know a few years
back in Las Vegas the NALC stated that in about 5 years you would not be able to tell the difference between the "Blue +" and
the NALC Health Plan. They weren't lying! I would like to share with you a side by side comparison of the "Blue" vs. NALC
plans.
| Deduct per year | Deduct for prescription per year | Hospital Impatient | Doctor's Office Visits | Doctors Impatient Surgical Services | Hospital Impatient R & B | Drugs Level 1 | Level II / III | Mail Order |
|---|
BCBS PPO/ Biweek $132.83 | $300.00 | None | $200.00 | $20.00 | 15% | $200.00 | 20% | 30%/30% | Yes |
|---|
NALC PPO/ Biweek $86.11 | $300.00 | None | $200.00 | $15.00 | 15% | nothing | 20% | 30%/30% | Yes |
|---|
If you look at the above chart you will notice that these two plans are basically identical. However, there are two big differences:
The cost of the NALC is much cheaper and your doctor's office visits are $5.00 less per visit. Also added this year you will
now have 2 Labs that will pay 100% of your cost. You will now be able to use LabCorp and Quest Labs. Another good benefit
for you is that you save on your prescriptions when you go to CVS because CVS and Caremark are the same. And remember,
you can go straight to CVS to fill your 90 day supply medications and save a bunch of money that way too.. It just makes
sense folks! Why pay more money for the "Blue" when you can have a better plan for a lot cheaper! If you can't see that the
NALC beats the pants off of "Blue', well what can I say....it's just common sense! Once again, I hope everyone had a Happy
Thanksgiving
Donald Jackson, Director of Retirees
SCSALC
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November 11, 2009
Happy Veteran's Day!
Donald Jackson, Director of Retirees
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July 9, 2009
I want to start by saying hello to everyone and I hope everyone is doing well. I want to dive into this article by giving an outline of legislative issues at hand. I am asking for everyone, especially retirees to look at these issues and get in contact with your representatives to get them on board on these issues.
First, the one I think is most crucial for us now is the H.R. 22 bill. This bill would reduce payments made by USPS for retiree health benefits by billions. The union and USPS are strongly behind this bill. If we could get this bill passed it would save the Postal Service billions possibly tens of billions of dollars. At a time when the Postal Service is struggling we sure could use this money to help cushion the economic crisis going on within the Postal Service. As of now there are currently 338 co-sponsors for this bill. As of now there is only one representative from SC on this bill. That is Rep. Joe Wilson from district 2 that signed on 3/5/09. I ask that you flood your representative with letters on this bill to get them signed on as co-sponsors.
Thanks to our own Sen. Jim DeMint the FERS sick leave credit language that was attached to the H.R. 1256 bill was removed. The H.R. 1256 bill had several improvements to the Thrift Savings Plan. President Obama has announced his intention of signing this bill into law with changes to the TSP. Some of those changes included automatic enrollment and immediate employing agency contributions, TSP Roth option, authority to create a “mutual fund window” (allows participates to invest a portion of their savings in a whole range of available mutual funds, provided they are TSP investors), and maintain accounts for surviving spouses. The sick leave credit would allow the same benefit as civil service retirement service which allows them to receive credit for unused sick leave. At this time that is not an option for FERS retirees. This FERS sick leave credit was tacked on to the H.R. 1256 bill which was a bill to regulate tobacco which passed in the House in April. However, thanks to Sen. Jim DeMint he objected to language of the FERS sick leave credit language and this language was removed from the bill. Under Senate rules, all amendments have to be agreed to unanimously. As a supporter of this FERS sick leave credit we hope this amendment will be attached to another bill in the legislative later this year. I ask all of you for your support on this critical piece of legislative that will equal the playing field for Civil Service and FERS retirees.
Finally, the House Administration Committee approved three bills on June 10th to promote voting by mail. The H.R. 1604 which amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 was endorsed by the committee. This would allow eligible voters to use mail-in ballots for any reason for all federal elections. There are currently 50 co-sponsors on this bill. There are no representatives from SC on this bill. The H.R. 2510 is to reimburse states for expense for tracking absentee ballots in federal elections. There are currently only 4 co-sponsors on this bill again no one from SC on this bill. The H.R. 2393 is to help with the procedures and collection of the absentee ballots for the military overseas and to track these ballots overseas. There are currently 39 co-sponsors on this bill. Currently there are two representatives from SC on this bill. They are Henry Brown from district 1 and Joe Wilson from district 2.
I ask everyone especially retirees to look over these issues and get your representatives involved in these legislative issues. You may visit The Library of Congress to look up the various bills at hand and to see where your SC Representatives stand on our issues. If you have any questions or need help please let me know. Until next time…take care! And get in the political game!!!
Sincerely Yours,
Don Jackson, Director of Retirees
SCSALC
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Hello everyone! I hope you all have a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year! I wanted to say thank you to the ones who joined me at the polls on the 4th. I appreciate your commitment to our country for change. I hope everyone is doing well and is trying to stay “fit” with all the holiday trimmings on the family table. It’s a tough job, but someone has to eat all this good food!
I just wanted to briefly mention a few things. First, I wanted to let the retiree’s know that Retiree’s under Civil Service will receive a cost of living adjustment of 5.8% in 2009. Those of you under FERS will receive a cost of living adjustment of 4.8% in 2009. I know it isn’t a lot, but something is always better than nothing. In this day in age, we need every penny we can get. I know things are still tough right now, but hopefully we will see things turn around in our Nation real soon. I ask that you remain calm and positive.
I also wanted to talk about our health benefit coverage. I hope everyone has taken the time to look at the new items and the changes that was made for next year. I can see each year, it gets better and better. A few things that I wanted to point out were that the co-payment for the NALC insurance went down to $15. That is cheaper than last year and that $15 co pay includes specialist. Did you see what the “BLUE” people are paying to go to specialist? Also, starting next
month you can go to CVS for your prescriptions for your 90 day maintenance drugs. You will no longer have to wait on them. I was fascinated by the first week numbers of 2,027 members who signed up for the NALC Insurance. Thank you to my NEW brother’s and sister’s who joined the best plan around. I thank you. Remember open seasons ends December 10th. Well, until next time, take care. Be safe in the holiday madness.