POLICY UPDATES

POLICY CHANGES STARTING 5/1 /2024
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
 

General Membership,

                  I would like to take a moment and go over some important information regarding your Benefit & Welfare Association. First off, for the membership that currently has Colonial Insurance. We have been notified that starting May 01, 2024, Colonial Insurance will be increasing their rates & reducing coverage for the voluntary disability plan members. We were made aware of this change in February of this year. The Executive Board and I felt this to be unreasonable for our membership. We started working with the plan administrator Bryce Korngold, to come up with an alternative. Right now, the disability insurance is a slippery slope for our membership. We inherited this plan from local 1014 a year ago. We made it possible to have a continuation of service for approximately 750 members. As you know The Fire Protection District views disability insurance a possible cause for staffing issues. The other issue is that a lot of insurance providers have claimed high losses from this type of insurance. Very few companies were able to give us a reasonable rate, except one Symetra. Earlier this month at our monthly meeting, Bryce gave the Board the board two options for our membership. First, we could stay with Colonial, we would have to increase all your rates. The disability payout would be cut in half. Second, we change over to Symetra and continue the same disability payment as Colonial before May 01. But the bi-weekly rates will increase approximately 20%. We deliberated and concluded that Symetra would be the best fit for our membership due to the fact Symetra had the same disability payout as Colonial prior to May 01. Starting May 30th, you are going to notice a change in your payroll deduction. We will be changing all current Colonial members over to Symetra. Symetra’s plan mirrors Colonials old plan with enhanced benefits. Bryce and his team will be reaching out after the transition to go over any adjustments that you may have. I also want to convey that Colonial will continue coverage for those who are currently off on injury past the May 1st change date. If you have any questions, please contact the plan administrator Bryce Korngold 833 338 6466 bryce@memberbenefitsins.com.

 

President,

Steve Bernau

POLICY CHANGES STARTING 4/1 /2019

LETTER FROM 1014 

 

Brothers and Sisters,

 

As part of our commitment to our members and their wellbeing, Local 1014 has been working on finding a lasting solution to provide our members with insurance for when they are injured both on and off duty. 

 

By now, you are probably familiar with the various insurance agencies who have offered plans to our members and you may also be aware of the exorbitant use of these policies due to the dysfunctional workers’ compensation system within the Department. As a result, those insurance companies are no longer offering coverage and companies with existing policies for our members have had to alter benefits and raise rates due to the workers comp situation and excessive use. 

 

Your Local 1014 Executive Board has worked hard to find a company that is willing and able to offer a reasonable rate for our members for both on and off duty injuries and to supplement their income while being careful not to incentivize the time off.  

 

Mutual of Omaha worked hard put together an insurance plan for our members that met this standard; however, to date, $2 million in premiums have been paid in, while over $5 million in claims have been paid out.  That is simply unsustainable for Mutual of Omaha and, as the other insurance companies have done, they had to raise rates and now refuse to renew the policy for our members. 

 

While this was unfortunate, we have negotiated, through a competitive process, with Colonial Insurance to move those on the Mutual of Omaha plan over to Colonial if they so choose.  We believe this new provider will bring stability and fair benefits to aid our members when they are injured but does not offer an “incentive” for its continued use. This new plan will help us manage and sustain a safety net for our members if and when that help is needed. 

 

Effective April 1, 2019, all existing Mutual of Omaha coverage will be automatically moved to new policies with Colonial Life and Accident. Local 1014 has elected to move forward with Colonial Life and Accident as its voluntary benefit carrier of choice for Accident Indemnity, Critical Illness with Cancer, and Disability coverage for the 2019-2020 plan year.
 

 

Click here to learn more about new benefits with Colonial Life. 

 

To ensure rate increases will not be a continual disruptor of your valuable coverage, Local 1014 has negotiated a 5-year rate guarantee for all products being offered by Colonial Life during the 2019-2020 plan year. There will be a rate DECREASE of about 25-30% of premiums on average.

 

Mutual of Omaha will continue to pay out claims for everyone currently on “I” for the duration of their policy term and will honor and pay claims for those who were put on “I” before April 1 and have not filed the claim yet. 

 

The 1014 Member Benefits team will be reaching out to each station to schedule a visit to go over the changes and enroll or make changes to the benefits as needed.

 

If you have any questions regarding the new Colonial Life insurance policies, you can email support@local1014mb.com or call the brokers office at 833-338-6466. 

 

Kind Regards,

 

President Dave Gillotte 

 

POLICY CHANGES STARTING 10/1/2018

Hello 1014 Members-

 

Here is an update on the Mutual of Omaha fire fighter protection package.

 

Disability claims update:

 

As of the end of July 2018, Mutual of Omaha has paid out over $600,000 in claims in less than five months!

 

The members are truly benefiting from this new coverage. We have received lots of positive feedback about the process of filing a claim and the ongoing service that has been provided throughout the claim experience.

 

We are still working on making the experience even better. One improvement that will be rolling out soon is a dedicated direct line to Mutual of Omaha, exclusive to 1014 Members.

 

We are now six months into the policy and Mutual of Omaha is processing more claims than anticipated. Currently Mutual of Omaha is experiencing a 191% variance on the projected losses.

 

What does this mean?

 

Simply put…there is more money going out than coming in. This is a lot more than what was projected based off prior years’ numbers.

 

Due to the above figures, there are some changes that need to be made that will impact all currently enrolled members.

 

Here are the changes that will occur effective 10/1/2018:

• All members elimination periods will be adjusted from 7/7 or 14/14 to 21 days.

• The package rates will increase by 21-23% on average depending on the age band.

• Waiver of premium will no longer apply.

 

All current enrolled members will be able to keep the $5000 disability benefit.

 

Starting 9/1/18, a new package will be available for 10/1/18 effective coverage, and the details are outlined below:

• Standard 21 day elimination period for all members.

• $4000 a month max benefit (down from $5000 on the grandfathered plan)

• New adjusted rates.

 

If the utilization drops and goes back to where Mutual of Omaha initially projected and claims stabilize, we will attempt to negotiate a rate decrease in the future.

 

This package was created to protect you and your families. Let's work together to make this happen.

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Thank you.