Latest News

******Very Important Update Regarding Your Benefits - Please Read******

May 3, 2008

To all members: Please read below

Dear Construction Teamsters members, retirees, and families:

This letter is to inform you that effective May 1, 2008 the Construction Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund will be merged into Teamsters Union 25 Health Services & Insurance Plan – TeamstersCare. Your benefits under Construction Teamsters will remain in place through May 31, 2008.

Effective June 1, 2008 eligible participants will begin to receive coverage through TeamstersCare.

You will be receiving detailed information from TeamstersCare over the next couple of weeks.

Please note that effective June 1, 2008 all of your current insurance I.D. cards (e.g., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Teamsters Rx prescription drug, Delta Dental, etc.) will no longer be valid and will not be accepted by providers.

Going forward your benefits and eligibility for benefits will be based upon the TeamstersCare Plan. Please be assured that any credit you earned working - for active coverage or retiree benefits – will remain. Hours and years of service will be applied to TeamstersCare rules, also effective June 1, 2008.

Please rest assured that both the Construction Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund Office and TeamstersCare, are doing our very best to make this transition as smooth and trouble free as possible.

Very truly yours,

Christopher J. Walsh

Fund Administrator

May 24, 2007

This Trustees meeting made some big changes to your plan benefit. Your dental insurnce will now be offered by Delta Dental. The plan with give you many new enhancements. It will allow you to receive greater amount of benefits due to the pre-negotiated rates. It also does not allow the dentist to balance bill you. You will also have your crown coverage increased to 50% the cost of the crown. Also, you will now be able to receive implants.

Another change will be to your prescription drug benefit. You will now receive your benefit from the Teamster run pharmacy, Northern New England Benefit Trust.

More info to follow. You will be receiving 2 very important mailings with applications for both of the above refrenced products. As always, please contact us with any questions.

*************************************************************************************************************************

On March 1, 2007, there was a Trustees meeting to make changes to the Construction Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund plan. The Trustees made the changes to ensure that the Fund would be available to you for many years to come.

Below is a list of the changes:

The qualifying hours will be changed from 600 hours per 6 months, to 400 hours per 3 months. The schedule will be as follows:

a. March 1 – May 31 to qualify on July 1
b. June 1 – August 31 to qualify on October 1
c. September 1 – November 30 to qualify on January 1
d. December 1 – February 28 to qualify on April 1

This change will allow members to gain access to our Health plan 4 times per year, as opposed to the 2 times a year under our old plan requirement. This also means that if in fact you do lose your insurance, you have the ability to gain it back in only 3 months. This has become a standard among the health funds in other trade unions. It mostly benefits our members that have seasonal employment.

Carry-Over - you will only be allowed to use your carry-over hours for one(1) period during the fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).

BUY-IN - Any Medical, Dental, Vision, & Hearing (MDVH) member that uses the BUY-IN(you may buy up to 50 hours) feature during the Fiscal Year will only be allowed to use it once, and in doing so, will receive Medical coverage only, and not be allowed to receive the Dental, Vision, & Hearing(DVH) portion of the plan.

COBRA - Any member that enrolls in COBRA after March 1, 2007, will only be allowed to use the COBRA for 18 months. Any member that is currently enrolled in the COBRA plan can continue in the plan up to 5 years.

Hearing Benefit – hearing benefit will be $1,000 per ear every 5 years, with a $50.00 deductible.

Dental – Crowns will now be covered at 50% the cost of the crown to a max of $500.00.

Any Dental, Vision, Hearing service that you have done on February 28, 2007 or prior will be covered on the old guidelines, and any Dental, Vision, & Hearing service on March 2, 2007 going forward will follow the new guidelines listed above.

If you have any questions regarding these new changes, please do not hesitate to contact the fund office @ 781-849-1379.

Support Our Troops - 2007

Here are some useful links to show your support and send care packages to our soldiers

December 16 , 2006

**** Office move ****

The Construction Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund office has moved to a new location. The new address is as follows:

Construction Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund

220 Forbes Rd, Suite 108

Braintree, Ma 02184

Phone: 781-849-1379

Fax: 781-849-8379

There is ample parking to make accessibility to our office more convenient.

5-31-2006

Check your hours Online

E-mail me to request your own personal ID and Password. You can choose this yourself and I will input it into the system. It will be unique to your personal preference.

4-7-2006

Please use this link to access discounts on your prescription drugs. It is the Mail order Prescription Program through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Please click on link to read and apply for this great money savings benefit.

Attn: All Members

If any member has misplaced or never received their new Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance card. Please call our office. We now have the ability to re-order the cards ourselves. It is very quick and easy.

Questions or comments please contact me