the hhhart line

NYSUT Disaster Relief

The flooding in Louisiana has been devastating.  More that 110,000 homes remain damaged; more than 265,000 children(30 percent of the school-age population of the state) have been out of school; and thousands of teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and other paraprofessionals have been displaced. Please show the union families affected by the flooding that we care: Donate what you can through NYSUT Disaster Relief. Send your individual or local union contributions to NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund, 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY, 12110, and the union will forward them to the national effort. 

If you were born in July, the end of this month is your registration deadline 

The State Education Department's TEACH system is open for educators to register, as required by a new law effective July 1. Educators must register by the end of their birth month, so if you were born in July, you're up first. The new state law requires that permanent and professional classroom teachers, educational leaders and Level III Teaching Assistant certificate holders register every five years. There is no fee for registration. Retirees do not have to register unless they plan to work in public schools or BOCES in the future.
For more information, or to ask questions, go to NYSUT's certification page.

HHHART Annual Meeting - May 20th

What a wonderful informative meeting HHHART had on Friday, May 20th!  Meeting at the NYSUT office, 30 plus retirees convened to enjoy friends, coffee and nosh, and to catch up on what is happening with the active teachers and on the issues facing the retiree. Joan Petroske, HHHART president, and the Board presented an interesting agenda. Joan introduced the active president of the Teachers’ Association, Richard Haase. It was interesting listening to what was happening with the active teachers. 

Joan introduced the Board and proceeded to advise us of upcoming events;

• June 2 - RC 20 Luncheon
• Fall Luncheon - Sept. 7 - Bonwitt
• NYSUT Oct 6 - Regional conference

Malinda Dobrins, HHHART secretary, asked for volunteers to help with the dues collection. She explained the need for a person who would like to take over the email correspondence. The Board is actively seeking help in this area.

Next on the agenda was Dick Lee,our Welfare Trust Administrator.  He stressed that we should be vigilant in keeping our union dues paid as we risk not being able to be involved in any NYSUT benefits and the HHH Excess Medical (if you are enrolled).

Ending our program was Mel Stern, our political action expert, who shared what was going on in the State.

 

Reimbursement of Medicare Part B and IRMAA- Part K

Good News - IRMAA was not touched!- May 2016

The 2016-17 executive budget proposal freezes the reimbursement of Medicare Part B to $104.90 for those enrolled in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP). It also eliminates the reimbursement of the Medicare Part B Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA), which is paid by high-income retirees. This change would affect state retirees for whom Medicare is their primary insurance as well as retirees with Medicare from school districts and municipalities who are enrolled in the NYSHIP Empire Plan for health insurance. Retirees who are not enrolled in NYSHIP are not affected.

The executive budget proposal, if enacted, would no longer require employers whose retirees are enrolled in NYSHIP plans to reimburse more than $104.90 for the cost of Part B for those with Medicare as their primary insurance coverage. NYSUT believes this will result in additional out-of-pocket costs for retirees and a diminishment of their established health care benefits. 

Send your legislators a fax using the MAC. Use the toll free phone number for the New York State AFL-CIO Capitol Switchboard Hotline, 877-255-9417, to speak with your state senator or Assembly representative to urge them to reject this proposal and request they vote to maintain the current Medicare reimbursement language.

 

After arguments in court, the debate continues on Friedrichs

NYSUT continues to work closely with local unions to educate members about what the Friedrichs case could mean for unions. See the extensive coverage in the February NYSUT United, coming next week. Meanwhile, watch and share this creative video effort from Smithtown TA.

 

The State Education Department (SED) issued a memo to superintendents on the new registration process.  NYSUT has posted a printable "10 things you need to know" flier, as well as a question form and more information on the new regulation at www.nysut.org/certification.

You can access the flier here.