Benefits Committee Report

Dave Najduch, Benefits Chair

The work of the Benefits Committee continues:

RTAM Benefits Plans / Premiums and Plan Improvements Since September the Committee has met three times. We are in the process of reviewing each of the plans currently being offered by RTAM. They include the CORE and ENHANCED health plans, the dental plan and the Prestige Travel Insurance plan.

This process involves reviewing what benefits are currently being offered in each plan and the cost to the membership. I would like to thank Johnson Insurance for the data they have provided the committee to review this process. Once this has been completed, the Committee then looks at what improvements we would like to see in the plans and the premium costs they might require.

The new rates and any changes being proposed to plan coverage will be discussed by the Committee and then recommended to the Board. A final vote will take place to approve these changes. The new premiums and any plan changes will then be communicated to the membership and be implemented for April 1, 2023.

Stay tuned for information about this in the coming months.

WTA Information Meetings September was a very busy month.

As just a reminder, the Winnipeg Teachers’ Association retirees will lose their Manulife coverage the end of December 2022. These 1,400 plus retirees will need to look for new coverage. Five in person and one Zoom meetings were arranged by MTS for WTA retirees to attend and to receive information about the Blue Cross Retiree plan offered through the MPSEBP and the RTAM plans offered by Johnson.

The meetings were very well attended, and I spoke with well over 500 retirees. There were lots of good questions and information shared by Blue Cross and RTAM. You can see what has been shared with WTA retirees about our programs by going to the RTAM web page and under the banner “Welcome WTA Retirees” click “Find Out More”, this area includes the Power Point used, the newsletter developed and a host of other documents that have been shared.

If the WTA retirees are going to the Blue Cross plan, they will have to have applied by mid-November, and if they are moving to the RTAM Johnson plans they can do so until the early part of the new year.

I have to again thank Diane, Denise and Sean in the RTAM office. They have been dealing with hundreds of calls since the letters were received by WTA retirees indicating they would be losing their plan, and have worked hard to provide accurate and timely response to the questions asked. I would also like to thank Jessica at Johnson for her help in developing and publishing the materials that have been shared.

We should have an accurate picture of the impact these meetings and phone calls have had on RTAM plan membership early in the new year.