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Dear Members,
Below is for your fyi for Retirees...
Teddy
MEC President. AFA-CWA
Retiree Update - HCTC and COBRA UPDATE:
AFA and other labor group representatives participated in a meeting Thursday,
February 17, 2005 with US Airways management and representatives from the HCTC,
Department of Labor and the PBGC to discuss the HCTC program.
The COBRA notices are going to be mailed next week. It is very important to fill
out the paperwork correctly and submit. You will then receive a COBRA invoice.
Please make a copy of the COBRA notice and the COBRA invoice. You will need to
submit both when applying for the HCTC.
The IRS sent out HCTC program kits this week to those retired as of November 1,
2004. Expect to receive the HCTC information by the end of next week at the
latest. When applying for the HCTC it is of the utmost importance to fill out
the application properly and completely. The IRS does not place outbound phone
calls if the submitted application is incorrect or incomplete. Additionally, the
IRS follows strict privacy guidelines and AFA is unable to intervene to find out
the status of your application. Please be certain to fill out the paperwork
correctly and completely.
You must remit the COBRA payment in full until you receive an approval of
acceptance and an invoice from HCTC for 35% of premiums. If you are eligible for
the HCTC on March 1, 2005 and there are months that you have paid the full
premium during the transmission of paperwork, you are able to reduce your tax
liabilities at the end of the year for the 65% of the full premium.
The retirees after November 1, 2004 will receive the HCTC program kit after
their information is loaded into the PBGC system and the retiree names are
transferred to the HCTC department. These agencies are government agencies and I
do not know the date the program kits will be mailed for this group. These
retirees must also pay the COBRA payments in full until they receive an approval
of acceptance and an invoice from the HCTC for 35% of premiums. They are also
eligible to reduce their tax liabilities at the end of the year for the 65% of
the full premiums.
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