International Funds

Take Time to Review Your LAST Paper IPF Annual Statement

The International Pension Fund (IPF) is mailing Annual Statements to all active U.S. and Canadian participants. The statements provide critical information regarding hours reported and updates on service credit and beneficiary information. As of July 2022, over 11,000 BAC members have opted for electronic document communications including Annual Statements through the Member Portal. The Fund Office has compiled the following guide while reviewing your statement.

Social Security/Insurance Number — For your security, the first five digits of your SSN/SIN have been suppressed.

Future Service Credit Hours — The Annual Statement shows members’ detailed 2021 hours in addition to all hours reported on their behalf by year. This can include hours worked outside a member’s home local including before the home local first participated in IPF. The Fund Office processes hundreds of thousands of transactions each year with over 600,000 report transactions from more than 7,000 contributing employers in 2021. This mailing is comprised of over 31,000 Annual Statements with more than 9,000 statements being sent through the Member Portal.

If you find an hour’s discrepancy, please notify us by contacting IPFAnnualStatements@ipfweb.org and provide the office with local union or employer records or check stub copies that document the missing hours along with a copy of your statement. Hours reported or adjusted in 2021 will be reported in detail, showing the work month, local and employer. Any detailed hours shown for a year prior to 2021 were either reported late or originally an incorrect SSN/SIN.

Past Service Credit — Past Service credit estimates shown on the annual statement consider many factors including the member’s initiation date, IPF participation date, the local’s IPF participation date, the participants home local (the local in which the majority of your IPF employment occurred), and any apparent breaks in service that can cancel service credit. A participant may request a detailed report of all IPF Future Service Credit hours and have their past service credit verified as part of a pension status report. This request must be made in writing. A final determination of a participant’s past service eligibility can only be made at retirement.

Beneficiary Information — Your statement only shows IPF beneficiary designations received by the Fund Office. Designations made for the International, local union plan or BAC Save will not appear. Participants whose statements do not show a beneficiary will receive a mailing from IPF or BAC Save requesting that designation. IPF and BAC Save forms are also available via the Member Portal. If a member’s ex-spouse appears as beneficiary on an annual statement, a new designation must be made as a divorce decree does not automatically revoke the ex-spouse beneficiary designation. //

REMINDER ON PENSIONER 1099-R/T4-A FORMS

Approximately 97% of pensioners receive their benefits via direct deposit electronically into their bank accounts. Starting with the 2021 tax year, 1099-R forms and IPF Canada T4-A forms are available on the Member Portal. You can ensure the safe and rapid receipt of your annual tax statement by emailing the IPF Pension Payroll Department at PensionPayroll@ipfweb.org stating your name, IU# and “I consent to receive Form 1099-R or T4-A in electronic format in lieu of receiving a paper copy.”

IHF Member Focused BAC Cares Programs

When looking at ways to improve the International Health Fund (IHF) benefits program, the IHF is always looking at the needs of BAC members and their families first, addressing the most prevalent conditions and removing barriers to receiving care for these conditions. All changes aim to improve the quality of care and decrease plan costs.

ORTHOPEDIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS

Over time, the physical labor and repetitive moments of construction work take a toll on your body, and it is no surprise that musculoskeletal conditions are especially prevalent in the industry.

For the IHF, musculoskeletal conditions are consistently one of the top three diagnoses, recently representing 12 percent of the total medical plan paid. It is essential that when members need care for these conditions they are going to the right providers, at the right time, and at an affordable cost. To address this essential need for BAC members, the IHF implemented the Orthopedic Health Solutions with United Healthcare.

With this program, BAC members who have a musculoskeletal condition requiring surgery can have the surgery covered 100 percent – with no cost to the member. To receive this free service, members must contact the United Healthcare Orthopedic Health Solutions program prior to scheduling their diagnostic imaging or actual surgical procedure. Members may also be contacted directly by United Healthcare if there is a diagnosis of an orthopedic disease.

Once enrolled, the orthopedic team with the Orthopedic Health Solutions program helps members to prepare for surgery and recovery, find quality care at top facilities through United Healthcare’s Centers of Excellence (COE) network, connect with an on-site navigator to assist with appointments and needs at the hospital (including travel and lodging), and get personalized support after surgery. This program will help to improve health outcomes for the member and, at the same time, reduce costs for knee, hip, and spine procedures.

FREESTANDING FACILITY BENEFITS

Through detailed analysis of claims data, the IHF identified the site of care for services as a key indicator of plan costs. In 2020, the IHF began covering advanced imaging, such as x-rays and MRIs, at freestanding facilities (non-hospital facilities) at no-cost to members. Following this change, the plan experienced a 48 percent decrease plan-paid costs per procedure. Therefore, the IHF further expanded services covered at no-cost to members to include outpatient surgical procedures performed at freestanding facilities. The IHF also covers all lab services at Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp with no-cost to members.

HOW TO LEARN MORE

For more information about the Orthopedic Health Solution program, and other no-cost benefits available through IHF’s BAC Cares programs, IHF members can call the phone number on your health plan ID Card. You may also contact the Fund Office at 1-888-880-8222. //