Blog about STRS/Health
Benefits Board
Meetings Contact Health
Insurers Medicare
STRS Workshops
STRS also scheduled an extra meeting for June 3, which will be a
public hearing on a proposed rule that sets forth the procedure for filling a
vacancy in the term of a member of the board of the State Teachers Retirement
System of Ohio. People would be well advised to check the STRS website (http://www.strsoh.org/) for
their meeting schedule and/or contact STRS and request to be put on their e-mail
list to receive notifications of Board meetings.
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Proposed Legislation
Poses Threat to STRS
Two bills currently
under consideration in Columbus are serious threats to the financial condition
of STRS.
HB 151 would require
Ohio’s public pension funds to divest themselves of any investments in
corporations doing business with Iran. Presented as an action in support of
the “war on terror,” the bill is so vague and broad that it is estimated up to
$9 billion of STRS assets could be affected by this law. Companies who are
major employers of Ohioans (Honda, Daimler-Chrysler, and a host of others) do
business in most developed nations of the world to some degree. This does not
equate to support for terrorism, but is simply a reflection of the complex,
inter-connected nature of corporate organizations in today’s world. STRS urges
its members to contact members of the Ohio Retirement Study Council and the
House Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities Committee to express
opposition to HB 151.Committee members should be reminded that the money in
the public pension funds is not “public money” but instead is the property of
the members of the systems. Other talking points include the fact that the
legislation indemnifies pension boards from violations of their fiduciary
duties to protect member funds. In other words, they are offering a “free
pass” to lose your money in an irresponsible fashion in support of their
political agenda. This bill sets a very dangerous precedent.
The ORSC is expected to
deal with this legislation on Tuesday, May 22. For contact information, visit
the STRS Watch blog site at
http://strswatch.blogspot.com/.
HB 152 would require
school districts to offer alternative retirement plans to employees with five
or less years of experience. This has the potential of reducing the number of
STRS and SERS members, thus undermining the financial stability of these two
systems. Private investment companies, not bound by the same regulations as
the public systems, could make unrealistic, overly-optimistic projections that
could mislead relatively inexperienced members into making decisions that will
negatively impact their retirement security. This legislation is an assault on
public education employees and is part of a strategy to further erode “defined
benefit” pensions that provide retirees a guaranteed level of financial
security. STRS already offers alternative plans for those members who would
rather participate in a “defined contribution” approach, and STRS’ plan
routinely out-performs private sector investment companies. This bill is bad
legislation that essentially is a solution in search of a problem that does
not exist. The same committees that are considering HB 151 are also looking at
HB 152 and should be contacted to voice your concerns.
Webcasting Study To
Continue
The Ad Hoc Committee on
Webcasting met briefly Friday afternoon following the regular Board meeting.
It was decided that an effort should be made to assess the level of interest
among STRS members for a variety of internet-based information delivery
methods by adding questions to the Fall 2007 member satisfaction survey and
inviting comment in a newsletter article. From the discussion, it would appear
that there is considerable reluctance to provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of
Board meetings via real-time video and audio streaming. There is considerable
support, however, for less costly alternatives that could provide additional
information on the STRS website. The committee will continue to study the
issue.
Health Care
Legislation Not On A Fast Track
Legislative efforts to
provide for a dedicated revenue stream for retiree health care have not
progressed as quickly as STRS officials would like. That was the message
delivered at the meeting of the Special Committee on Health Care Thursday
morning. Rep. Scott Oelslager still intends to sponsor the bill but wants to
postpone introducing it a bit longer as attempts are made to reduce opposition
from the Ohio School Boards Association and the leadership of the Republican
party.
Members should take
every opportunity to communicate the importance of this legislation to their
state Representatives and Senators. County Fairs, community events, and other
public gatherings at which legislators may appear provide excellent chances to
“buttonhole” these public servants and let them know that this legislation is
necessary for a secure retirement with affordable, quality health care. The
Health Care Advocates are also considering some regional meetings with local
school board members to explain the true nature of the legislation that
includes potential long-term savings for school districts.
James McGreevy
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Current STRS Board Members and Photos
Contact Information:
STRS Board, January 2007
Constance
Ramser, Chair
Contributing Member
5615 West Blvd., NW
Canton, OH 44718
330-499-1326
Jeff
Chapman, Vice Chair
Retired Member
275 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Mary Ann
Cervantes
Contributing Member
275 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Thomas W.
Johnson
Appointed Member
275 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Taiyia
Hayden
Contributing Member
4443 Landmark Road
Groveport, OH 43125-8924
614-830-0277
Contributing Member
275 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
513-967-8786 (or) 513-703-1197
Retired Member
45 Timberlane Drive
Chillicothe, OH 45601
740-779-1398
Mark Meuser
Contributing Member
804 Cherry Bottom Rd.
Gahanna, OH 43230
Dr. Steven
Puckett
Superintendent Representative for Dr. Susan
Tave Zellman
Ohio Departments Bldg.
25 S. Front St.
Treasurer's Appointment Appointed Member -
NEWS RELEASE
Jan. 8, 2007
Treasurer of State Jennette Bradley announced her appointment to the State Teachers Retirement Board before leaving office on Jan. 5, 2007.
Joining the board will be Craig Brooks, who retired in 2003 from KeyCorp in Cleveland. Mr. Brooks held several executive-level positions during
his 30-year career at KeyCorp including Executive Vice President -Finance and President of KeyCorp Mortgage. He holds a bachelor of
science degree in mathematics and economics as well as a master's degree in business administration from the University of Dayton. Mr. Brooks
resides in Solon, which is near Cleveland. He will serve on the board through December 2008.
Amended Substitute Senate Bill 133 passed in June 2004, included a provision that requires the state treasurer to appoint an investment
expert to the State Teachers Retirement Board. The 11 members of the board are compensated for expenses only.
STRS Ohio, with investment assets of more than $65 billion, serves as the public pension fund for Ohio's public educators, providing
retirement, survivor and disability benefits, as well as optional health care coverage for retirees.
__________________________________________________________
The STRS Ohio news e-mail list is designed solely to provide timely and accurate news and information about legislation, benefits and other
issues affecting the STRS Ohio membership.
To view past news e-mails, go to http://www.strsoh.org/past_news_e-mails/main.html.
If you wish to comment on a topic, please either e-mail contactus@strsoh.org or call the Member Services Center toll-free at
1-888-227-7877.
House & Senate Appointment Appointed Member
- TBA
More STRS contact information
here (Note: some may be outdated)
Find your state legislators
here
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A forum for Ohio educators, active and retired, sharing
thoughts pertaining to their health care and their retirement system (STRS
Ohio). A large share of the posts are generously provided by CORE stalwart
John Curry (curryjo@watchtv.net), who
manages a clearinghouse of CORE e-mails, articles, announcements, etc. CORE
website: www.concernedohio.org.
Kathie Bracy: kbb47@aol.com
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BOARD MEETINGS
CORE meetings scheduled for 3rd Thursdays at STRS
Location: STRS Building,
275 E. Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215 (free parking in the STRS parking
garage off S. 6th Street) Click
here for map and directions.
Room: Cafeteria room behind
the Sublet Room, second floor
Time:
11:45 a.m.
Also note:
• Please try to attend the 9:00 a.m. STRS
Board meeting, same day, sixth floor Board Room. Attendance by CORE
members is extremely important, as it
demonstrates our support for Board members Dennis Leone and John Lazares,
who have been knocking themselves out for our interests against strongly
backed adversaries. The other Board members NEED to see
our numbers; otherwise, it hurts our credibility.
• You may plan to leave the Board meeting at
11:30 a.m. if you want time to go through the cafeteria line; you can eat
your lunch during the 11:45 CORE meeting.
• Please plan to attend and sign up to speak
during the Public Speaks portion of the STRS meeting, around 1:30.
Speeches are limited to three minutes.
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STRS INFORMATION
ONLINE
REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE for WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS
Members and benefit recipients can now register for many of STRS Ohio’s
popular workshops and seminars through the Web site using the “Online
Registration” application. You can also modify or cancel an existing
registration, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The process is easy. Simply
click on the
Online Registration link on the home page and provide the login
information requested.
·
If you are
already registered for any upcoming workshops/seminars or an individual field
counseling session,
these will be displayed along with options to modify a current registration,
cancel a registration or register for a new event.
·
If you are not
registered for any upcoming events,
you will be asked if you want to register for individual field counseling or a
workshop/seminar.
You will then
be shown available dates and times you can select and register for.
·
Once registration is complete, you can view/modify all the events you are
currently registered for, register for another event or quit the application.
"Retiree
Series: A program for the STRS
Ohio
retired member -- featuring a different topic annually." "Topics include
Estate Planning, Investing in Retirement and Taking Care of our Health."
They're holding the first one on Feb. 8, and they DID say people
could register online (as well as calling their toll-free number).
Online
registration for a workshop or seminar is available
one month before the date of the event.
Online
registration for individual field counseling sessions is available
one day prior to phone registration.
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This link will take you to the
ORTA website which has listed the
health care
monthly premiums for STRS retirees.
From: "Asbury, Damon" <AsburyD@strsoh.org
To: "molly janczyk" <mollyjanczyk@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 15:30:25 -0400
Molly:
I've been waiting to reply to you until I had some additional information to
help explain the estimates for health care premiums for 2007.
As you know these are still estimates at this time and subject to further
discussion. I asked Sandy Knoesel for some information about
actual premiums costs and expected costs to help prepare this response.
For a non-Medicare eligible benefit recipient with 30 years
experience:
In 2004, the total monthly cost for health care for a 30 year non-Medicare
benefit recipient was $541. Of this amount, the benefit
recipient paid a monthly premium of $135. In 2005, the total monthly cost
went to $575, and the member premium went to $144 -- a 7% increase.
In 2006, the total cost rose to $605 and the member premium was scheduled to
rise to $151 -- a 5% increase. But, the board capped the
increase to 3%, so the premium was actually $148. In 2007, based on projected
claims experience, we estimate the total cost to be $678, with
the member premium to be $170. This is 15% over the $148 the member
paid last year, or 12.5% over the $151 premium which would have been in
place if the 3% cap had not been put in place.
For a non-Medicare eligible spouse:
In 2004, the total monthly cost for health care for this spouse was $427. Of
this amount, the benefit spouse paid the full monthly premium
of $427. In 2005, the total monthly cost went to $486, and again, the spouse
paid the full premium -- a 14% increase. In 2006, the total cost
rose to $588 and the spouse premium was scheduled to rise to $588 -- a 21%
increase. But, the board capped the increase to 3%, so the premium
was actually $501. In 2007, based on projected claims experience we
estimate the total cost to be $659, with the spouse premium to be $659.
This is 32% over the $501 the spouse paid last year, but 12% over what they
would have paid if the 3% cap had not been put in place. Thus, the
spouse actually paid $1044 less last year than what the actual trend should
have cost.
So the 12% is the projected trend increase from 2007 over what the actual
trend should have been in 2006. The fact that only a 3% increase
was applied in 2006, instead of the actual 21% trend, does make the actual
out-of-pocket cost to be the estimated 32%.
The Board will be receive additional information at the May meeting concerning
possible plan design changes and the impact adverse selection
which could result in some changes to the above information.
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For Medicare A & B members, Medicare is primary for hospital (Part A) and
physician/outpatient services (Part B) with STRS paying secondary. For the
individuals that are Medicare Part B only, STRS is primary for hospital
services and Medicare Part B is primary for physician/outpatient services with
STRS paying secondary on those services.
Also, just to point out, anytime a person is eligible for Medicare and does
not enroll, the STRS Ohio benefits are reduced by the amount that Medicare
would have paid for the services.
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Aetna
Basic PPO or Aetna Plus PPO
1-800-645-5677
Express Scripts
Delta
Dental Customer and Claims Services Department
1-866-349-1286
Medical
Mutual Basic PPO or Medical Mutual Plus PPO
1-800-854-8139
STRS
VSP Vision Plan
Member Services
1-800-877-7195
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Disclaimer: The
Franklin County Retired Teachers Association web site links to third-party web
sites on the Internet. Franklin County Retired Teachers Association provides
links to these sites as a convenience to its members. The inclusion of a link
does not constitute endorsement by Franklin County Retired Teachers Association.
The linked sites are not under control of Franklin County Retired Teachers
Association, thus Franklin County Retired Teachers Association is not
responsible for the availability or content of any linked site.
Contact Webmaster
Updated
05/19/2008
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