• BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TO BE MADE AVAILABLE

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BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TO BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR EAST EMPLOYEES IN 2008

The Company's unilateral decision last year to switch medical plan administrators from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBS) to United Health Care (UHC) caused numerous problems for East employees enrolled in the Company's health plan. Coverage and provider issues caused varied problems for East Employees. The Unions did a very good job documenting the problems and working with the Company to sort through the many issues. As 2007 progressed, it became clear UHC was not a strong enough network on the East and no amount of monitoring or discussion with UHC and the Company was going to fix that. The Unions made it clear to the Company returning to BCBS was a necessary step to provide our members with the health care they deserve and had grown accustomed to. The Company has therefore decided to offer UHC and BCBS in 2008 to East employees. The following information is being provided to employees by the Company:

Start Thinking Open Enrollment 2008 Now (read on for more exciting news)

In the coming weeks employees will receive information regarding 2008 Annual Enrollment for health care and other benefit plans. While there are several changes being made this year, one important one that pertains to employees who are under the former US East plans (see list below for who is covered under those plans), is that those employees will have a choice between companies who administer their healthcare claims.

In today's world, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is the claim administrator for all employees, regardless of whether former US West or US East employees and regardless of whether the employee is part of a union or not.

Because our new airline is quite a bit larger than either airline was before, continued research has shown that offering dual administrators for healthcare in certain regions makes a lot of sense both economically and from a network provider perspective too. Clearly put, offering a choice makes sense financially for the company and provides a better service for employees in those regions.

Not all employees currently fall in US East plans; however, so for those employees, we'll be maintaining the great coverage we've had with UHC. All others (and the list is below), will decide if they want to go with UnitedHealthcare (UHC) or Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) for 2008.

There will be a lot more information in the coming days so be sure to watch for the dates and how to enroll this year for medical coverage starting on January 1, 2008.

The following employee groups are currently in healthcare plans that will have either UHC or BCBS as their medical plan administrator in 2008:

A schedule of upcoming Benefit Fairs as well as Annual Enrollment information will be available on awaCompass and theHub in about two weeks. We'll be sending reminders and calling on every last nagging bone in our body to make sure employees know all they need to know (and probably a lot of stuff you don't) about open enrollment.

Why? Because we want you to have the best healthcare coverage you can with the options that are affordable both for the company and to the individual. You can help by ensuring your address is current and to find out if we do indeed have your correct address on file by visiting www.ebenefitsus.com. If it turns out you need to change or update your address, Employee Personal Change Forms are available on awaCompass and theHub under "Human Resources" and also through Outlook in the Public Folders, under "HR Processes". Just follow the instructions to co-mail or fax it back to the contact on the forms!

Visit www.ebenefitsUS.com during Annual Enrollment October 15-29, 2007 to enroll, make changes to your coverage, print a confirmation statement and much more.

Questions? Please contact us at employee.benefits@usairways.com.
 

Thank you,

Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
AFA-CWA

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AFA Local Numbers

Council 40 PIT 412-245-1214
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

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