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Dear Members,

The below information on Medical Health planning for retirement was approved by AFA International Benefits Legal Department for your reading consumption.


Teddy
MEC President

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RETIREE MEDICAL

The information set out below is given in response to questions asked by flight attendants.. The Association of Flight Attendants -CWA (AFA) is neither recommending nor advocating any one choice or option over any another. Each flight attendant must weigh each option very carefully before choosing the option that is best for him or her.

Flight attendants who retire before age 65 and need to health insurance have several from which to choose.

The first option is the Access Plan -

The Access plan, which is described in the December 2004 contract, provides retirees with the same coverage as they are currently receiving as an active employee of US Airways. A flight attendant may use up to 41 hours each month of accrued sick pay toward the monthly pre-65 retiree medical premium until the Flight Attendant's sick bank, as of the date of retirement, is exhausted. Once the sick bank is exhausted, the flight attendant is responsible for paying the entire Access Plan premium until the flight attendant reaches age 65.

At age 65 the flight attendant is eligible for Medicare.

The Access Plan is not a "qualified plan" for reimbursement under the Health Coverage Tax Credit Program (HCTC) of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The second option is COBRA -

A flight attendant may also choose to continue medical coverage under COBRA for 18 months. The COBRA plan is a "qualified plan" for purposes of the HCTC program, and therefore eligible for partial premium reimbursement, once the flight attendant is listed on the rolls of those receiving or scheduled to receive pension payments from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). 

The concern about the COBRA option is that it is available for only 18 months. Thereafter, the flight attendant must secure medical coverage from some other source. A possible source of medical insurance for some flight attendants could be a state-sponsored plan if they live in a state with a HCTC-qualified health insurance plan.

Currently, 40 states and the District of Columbia have HCTC-qualified state health plans.

The10 states that do not have HCTC-qualified state plans for retirees who are receiving pension payments from the PBGC .are: Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

People living in these states may choose individual plan of medical insurance to be eligible to receive reimbursement from the HCTC program.

The HCTC program gives the following definition of the "individual coverage" that may qualify for the HCTC: 

Individual coverage in which you were enrolled for at least 30 days before you were separated from the job that makes you eligible for - payments from the PBGC. Individual coverage provided under a contract issued to one individual or family at a time usually requiring evidence of insurability and usually purchased through agents, brokers or associations.

This means that the flight attendant who chooses individual coverage must have his or her insurance coverage in place 30 days prior to retirement. Representative of the HCTC program have told AFA that the individual must have paid the premium in full for the policy to be "in effect 30 days prior to separation." Anything less will not insure that the individual policy will qualify for the HCTC. 

Flight attendants need to be aware that individual policies can be very expensive and cover less that the flight attendant is use to under Company plans. These policies may have a pre-existing condition clauses that can exclude from coverage illness, injury, and conditions that existed prior to obtaining coverage under the individual policy. The exclusion period for such pre-existing conditions can last for 1 year or even longer. These policies may not offer the same coverage as the flight attendant can get through the Access Plan. For these reasons, individual plans need to be evaluated very carefully before making a decision to purchase them.

For further information about the HCTC program please look at: www.irs.gov Keyword: HCTC or call IRS representatives at 800-628-HCTC (4282).


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Accessing The Hub: http://thehub.usairways.com 

Logging in the first time your user name is u0(zero) and your five digit employee number. Your initial password is the first five digits of your social security number. Questions about the Hub? Please contact the EDS Help Desk at 336-744-6000 for assistance. More information can also be found HERE.

AFA Local Numbers

Council 40 PIT 724-695-3329
Council 41 DCA 703-212-8090
Council 69 BOS 781-289-8454
Council 70 PHL 215-492-0840
Council 82 LGA 315-736-3483
Council 89 CLT 704-527-0325

New Hotline Number Toll Free: 866-USA-AFA2

US AIRWAYS Benefits Information: 800-872-4780

Reply to Inflight: askinflight@usairways.com

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