PEP option offers way to reduce your health insurance premium


By LORRAINE SIMPKINS Want to reduce your paycheck deduction for health insurance? If you are a PS&T member in salary


grade 24 or lower, the PS&T contract provides the Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) that will let you trade vacation and/or personal leave for a credit to reduce your biweekly NYS Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) premium deduction. If you are full-time and in grade 17 or


lower, when you enroll in PEP, you may exchange a total of either three or six days of annual and/or personal leave for a credit of up to either $500 or $1,000, respectively, for 2013. If you are full-time in a grade 18 to 24


position, you may exchange 2.25 days or 4.5 days of annual and/or personal leave for a credit of up to either $500 or $1,000, respectively, when you enroll in PEP for 2013. The leave will be deducted from your


accruals when you enroll. The credit of up to either $500 or $1,000 is divided by 26 paychecks. For full-time employees, the biweekly credit is equal to either $19.23 or $38.46, or your biweekly premium deduction, if it is less. The PEP enrollment period for 2013


had not yet been announced when this magazine went to press. Check your Planning for Option Transfer flyer that was mailed to NYSHIP enrollees’ homes at the end of October for the PEP deadline. Enrollments do not carry forward from one year to the next, so even if you are participating in the 2012 PEP, you must re-enroll for 2013 if you want to continue to participate. To enroll, PS&T employees must meet


all of the following criteria: • Be in a job title at or below grade


24; • Have a combined total of at least


eight days of vacation and personal leave left after trading time for the insurance credit; and • Be a NYSHIP contract holder in


either the Empire Plan or an HMO at the time of enrollment. Part-time employees may participate


on a prorated basis. Institution teachers may participate


in accordance with the Teachers’ PEP Memorandum of Understanding found in the 2011-2015 PS&T Contract. For more information, or to request


an enrollment form, contact your agency’s personnel office.


Obamacare to health plans: You must provide user-friendly plan guides now


Have you come to dread the annual


window for choosing health plans because trying to compare them makes your eyes glaze over and your head hurt? Starting October 1, employers and


insurers are required by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), to provide their employees and customers with a short, plain-language summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) for 2013, and thereafter. Insurers must also explain their


benefits with a goal of making it nearly as easy to compare benefit packages as the nutritional-content labels on food at a supermarket. Now, all insurance companies and


group health plans must use the same standard SBC format to help you compare plans. The SBC form must include


examples that allow you to see what www.pef.org


the plan would generally cover in two common medical situations: new births and adult diabetes. Insurers also must provide a


uniform glossary to translate health insurance jargon, such as “deductible” and “copayment.” You have the right to receive a plan’s


SBC when you are shopping for or enrolling in coverage, or when you request a copy from your plan. You may also request the glossary of terms from your health plan. The U.S. Department of Health and


Human Services released an eight-page sample benefits form to show how the actual summaries will outline everything from deductibles and out-of- pocket expenses, to referrals and network providers. It and more information are available online at www.healthcare.gov.


—Deborah Stayman


Members urged to help diabetic teen


keep special dog By BARBARA ULMER PEF retirees William and Sheila Biette still


participate in union activities, but they also have a new mission to accomplish. Their grandson, Zach Johnson, has Type 1 diabetes and nearly died when he was 11 years old. Since then, a very special dog has changed


the way Zach and his family deal with his condition. A Labrador retriever named Alan is a Guardian Angel Service Dog trained to signal Zach when his blood sugar elevates or drops. Alan is able to detect the blood sugar change an hour quicker than a diabetic glucose meter. Zach, now 14, plays basketball and football


at Troy High School and is able to live his life and fulfill his dreams. He likes to share his experience with other


kids with Type 1 diabetes to let them know diabetes doesn’t have to rule their lives. Zach is this year’s ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Alan comes with a hefty price tag, $21,000.


Guardian Angel prefers the money be paid over time by holding fundraisers to increase awareness of the program. That’s why the Biettes stepped in to organize a fundraiser to keep this very special dog. A benefit, pig-roast dinner, will be held


Saturday, November 10, at the American Legion, 111 Main Ave., Wynantskill from 1 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for children ages 6 to 10, and free for those 5 and younger. The event includes door prizes, a drawing and entertainment. Online donations are being accepted at


www.guardianangelservicedogs.org/donate in care of Zach Johnson. You may also call Mickie Biette-Ninstant at (518) 210-8126 to make a credit-card donation. Checks should be payable to Guardian Angel Service Dogs, Inc. and mailed to Zach Johnson, c/o Guardian Angel Service Dogs, 1076 Madison Ave., Troy, NY 12180.


Fond Farewells


Editor’s Note: This is a new feature of The Communicator to inform readers of the retirements or deaths of PEF leaders, past and present, and of any related events that may be planned.


Please submit information for this column to


thecommunicator@pef.org as early as possible. PEF’s gratitude and best wishes go out to


Who: Former PEF Vice President Joe Fox; What: Retirement party; When: 6 p.m. Thursday, November 29; Where: Franklin Plaza Ballroom, 4th and


Grand streets, Troy; How: Contact Anna Schrom at 518-221-8454 or Ken Ferro at 518-366-9050 by November 20.


The Communicator November 2012—Page 15


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