Sign
up to receive emails
announcing new exams
and job postings.
DAS
does not require
agencies to post new
exams and job
postings. DAS's
considers its
website alone to be
sufficient notice to
satisfy the
statutory
requirement.
You're
Being Asked to Sign
that You Received
and Understand A
State Policy?
1/5/2012
You
can sign. You'll be
required to adhere
to the policy
whether you sign or
not.
What
if the policy is
complex, and its
ramifications are
not clear? You could
give management all
of your questions
and sign when the
policy is explained.
You
could cross-out the
word
“understand” and
put the words
"Signed as to
receipt only"
next to your
signature.
If
the policy is
written by another
agency, ask
management to
contact that agency.
That agency may
agree that your
agency’s staff
can’t be expected
to fully understand
the entire policy.
If
you refuse to sign,
two managers should
hand you the policy
and then they sign
that you have
received it.
No
one should ever be
forced to sign, or
be threatened with
insubordination if
they don't sign.
If
you feel coerced or
threatened,
immediately contact
a steward or call
1-800-842-4443 to
ask for a steward.
Anthem
is Telling State of
Connecticut Health
Enhancement Plan (HEP)
Members that They
Must Complete Their
HEP Annual Program
Requirements in the
Period from 7/1/11
through 6/30/12. 1/3/2012
Notifications
will be sent out
concerning
non-compliance. Time will
be given to achieve
compliance before
anyone is removed
from the HEP.
Summary
of Eligibility Rules
for Dependent
Coverage 12/27/2011
Written
by a member of the
Comptroller's staff
for the Health Care
Cost Containment
Committee, it is a
useful summary for
active and retired
members of whom you
can put on your
state medical
insurance (and until
what age).
Link
to the 2011 Holiday Party
Photos
12/19/2011
A&R
Retiree Council's
New Website
12/12/2011
2012
A&R College
Scholarship
Application
12/5/2011
For
those planning to
start or attend
college next year.
CVS/Caremark
Maintenance Drug
List 11/23/2011
Read
the first three
paragraphs
carefully. Your
co-pay for a
maintenance drug
should be $5 for
generic, $10 for
preferred brand name
and $25 for other
brand name. If your
doctor completes a Coverage
Exception
Request for
a maintenance drug
your co-pay should
be $5.
The
Three Tiers of Drug
Co-pays Under the
SEBAC 2011 Agreement
11/19/2011
Modified
1/4/12
Taken
from page three of
the SEBAC 2011
Agreement:
For
drugs you'll take
for less than ninety
days
(non-maintenance
drugs) the co-pays
are:
$5
generic
$20 preferred brand
name
$35 other brand name
For
drugs you'll take
for more than ninety
days (maintenance
drugs) the co-pays
are:
$5
generic
$10 preferred brand
name
$25 other brand name
For
drugs for diabetes
(1 and 2), asthma
and COPD, heart
failure/disease,
hyperlipidemia (high
cholesterol)
and hypertension the
co-pays are::
$0
generic
$5 preferred name
brand
$12.50 other brand
name
Note:
Under SEBAC 2009
you'll pay $10 for
any non-preferred
brand-name drug if
you have a
prescription drug
Coverage Exception
Request properly
completed by your
doctor.
If
no generic drug is
available, you will
still pay the
preferred brand name
price for the
preferred brand name
drug.
Usually,
there is no co-pay
for drugs for
diabetes.
"Preferred"
means the brand name
drug that the State
prefers you use for
your condition since
it is almost always
as medically
appropriate for you
as any non-preferred
brand name drug. A
preferred brand name
drug is also less
expensive for you
and the State.
Two
Free Dental
Cleanings per Calendar
Year
Web
posting modified
2/2/2012
SEBAC's
experts and our
members' experience
indicates that the
dental cleanings are
counted by calendar
year. The medical
check-ups are
counted by fiscal
year.
On
page 4, paragraph f,
the SEBAC agreement
states:
"Participants
who are covered by
the plans dental
program shall be
required to get two
free dental
cleanings per
year."
The
State, which pays
all state employee
and retiree medical
bills itself, has
always had a maximum
rate for a dental cleaning. This
rate also sets the maximum
co-pay for those who
have dental
insurance with the
State and use
in-network dentists. In-network
dentists have agreed
to bill neither the
State, nor its insured
employees and
retirees, more than
the set maximum rate and
co-pay. For the two free dental
cleanings each year,
the State will pay
its share and our
co-pay to the
dentist.
Do
not pay co-pays for
the two free dental
cleanings. If you
do, when the State
pays the co-pay,
your in-network
dentist will have
been overpaid. If
you've paid a co-pay
to an in-network
dentist for a dental
cleaning on or after
10/1/11, to get your
money back you will
have to contact the
dentist after you
receive proof by
mail that the State
paid the co-pay.
If
you use an out-of
network dentist,
that dentist has not
agreed to the
State's rate
structure and can
bill you the
difference between
what the State is
willing to pay and
what the dentist
wants to charge
(balance billing).
If
an in-network
dentist performs an
examination and
bite-wing x-rays as part of
a teeth cleaning,
we've been told that
everything will be
paid-in-full to the
in-network dentist.
If you are being
billed for any part
of a teeth cleaning
please notify the
union.
A&R's
Pay Plan for June
2010 to June 2013
NOTE:
There is only one
table due to the
two-year wage
freeze.
For
only four pay periods
beginning 7/1/11 our salary was
three percent (3%)
larger.
The
6/20/2008 pay plan
in the A&R
Contract (yellow
book) was in effect
from 6/20/2008
through 6/17/2010.
AFT
Connecticut Public
Employee Publicity
Campaign 10/26/2011
Four
A&R members were
picked as part of a
state campaign to
show that the work
done by public
employees matters.
Four post cards,
each with the face,
name and job
description of an
A&R employee,
were sent to each
Connecticut
legislator and
featured in
newsletters. The
above link is to one
such article. Copies
of the post cards
will be published on
this web site.
SEBAC
Files Prohibited
Practice Over
Availability of
Retirement Offer
10/21/2011
"At
issue is the State's
offer to certain
employees the
ability to retire
with 25 years
of service
regardless of age.
The State made that
offer without notice
to or bargaining
with SEBAC and
without making it
available to the
vast majority of the
state's
workforce."
"Employees
taking the offer
accepted a
substantial
reduction in their
pensions in return
for
leaving state
service below the
age of 55. They were
also required to
sign agreements
making their
retirement
irrevocable and
waiving any rights
to reemployment.
Additionally, they
had to make the
decision with less
than a week's --
sometimes
less than a day's
notice. These
conditions were
unilaterally set by
management."
"The
offer was first made
on or around August
15, just three days
before the members
of
the
unions in the
coalition ratified
the SEBAC 2011
agreement."
NIOSH
Report: Water-Loving
Fungi Still Love 25
Sigourney Street
10/12/2011
NIOSH
reports; "The
fraction of
water-loving fungi
to total
concentrations was
higher in 2007 than
in 2002, 2004 and
2005."
SEBAC
Grievance on
Longevity 10/12/2011
A&R Contract
Extension Agreement
(Memorandum of
Understanding)
It contains some
contradictory
language on annual
increments. From the
Agreement, this was
the intent: "There
will be no other
lump sum payment or
annual increment
made for contract
years 2011-2012 and
2012-2013."
Annual increments
are the nine steps
on our pay scales.
Lump sum payments
are paid once-a-year
after we've been at
our top step (ninth)
for a year.
Longevity payments
are paid to us
twice-a-year after
reaching ten or more
years of state
service.
We will not receive
annual increments or
lump sum payments
for the first two of
the next five years.
We will receive
longevity payments
twice-a-year for the
next five years
except for the
October 2011
payment.
Retiring?
Sign-Up for the
A&R Retirees'
Council
Invitation
Sign-Up
Form
OSC's
Answers to
Maintenance Drug
Program Questions
09/302011
Instead of receiving maintenance drugs through the mail, participants may pick up their prescriptions for
maintenance drugs at
any of these
pharmacies. All Big Y, CVS, ShopRite and Stop & Shop pharmacies. Bordornaro’s Pharmacy in Portland, Hope Street Pharmacy in Stamford, and Manchester Pharmacy in Manchester.
"Maintenance
medications are
those used to treat
chronic conditions
and are typically
taken on a regular
basis. If a
participant is
currently getting a
90-day supply of a
medication for a
chronic condition at
their pharmacy, it
is likely a
maintenance
drug."
"After October 1, if a participant refills a maintenance drug at
participating
Maintenance Drug
Network pharmacy,
the refill should be
made for a 90-day
supply for one
co-pay.
It is the
responsibility of
the local pharmacist
to contact the
physician if a
30-day script for
maintenance drugs
needs to be
converted to a
90-day script."
"After October 1, if a participant refills a maintenance drug at a
pharmacy that is NOT
participating in the
Maintenance Drug
Network he/she will
only receive a
30-day supply.
Following that
prescription fill,
Caremark will notify
the participant
directly by mail
that their next
refill for that
medication must be
refilled through the
maintenance program."
Link
to Office of the
State Comptroller's
Frequently Asked
Questions Page
Why
Members Who Are
Allergic to the
Molds and Dusts at
25 Sigourney St.,
Hartford Should Get
Out and Stay Out
09/08/2011
The
movie is part of Dr.
Storey's testimony
at a legislative
hearing on 25
Sigourney Street.
A
procedure exists to
have people allergic
to the building
reassigned to
another office.
Contact the union
office at
860-953-1316 for
details.
If
you're allergic, you
can suppress the
symptoms with
medication, but
damage to your lungs
and immune system
may still be
occurring. Past a
certain point, you
may develop a
chronic, persistent
and progressive
condition which may
get worse even after
you're removed from
the building.
People
seriously allergic
to the building
should get our
within six months.
A&R's
Voluntary Schedule
Reduction Program
Extended to June 30,
2016 09/01/2011
Those
who chose the
35-hour week in 2009
will continue on it
until June 30, 2016.
Employees
Not Required to
Divulge Doctors'
Names for Medical
Appointments 08/24/2011
Article
19, Section Eight of
our contract states:
"...no employee
shall be required to
disclose the nature
of the illness
underlying a sick
leave request."
In
this era of medical
specialization,
revealing a doctor's
name is often
tantamount to
revealing a
diagnosis.
No
employee has to
reveal the name of
the doctor to whom
they are going.
Under federal law no
agency can call a
doctor and ask for
information about
you unless you give
permission.
If
anyone pressures you
for a doctor's name,
tell them you want
union representation
before answering.
Copies
of A&R
Representative
Assembly Minutes
Available 08/11/2011
Copies
of any of the
approved A&R
Representative
Assembly meeting
minutes are
available to any
A&R member by
calling the union
office at
860-953-1316.
Upon
verification of
membership, the
minutes will be sent
to your home mailing
address.
Representative
Assembly
meetings are open to
all members and all
members are
encouraged to
attend.
Link to A&R's
Password Protected
Pages
Entire New SEBAC Agreement
08/03/2011
