April 2001 Trust Talk

Your Benefits

For all Trust Members, regardless of service length

Cover your dependents

You can provide additional income protection for your family by purchasing supplemental life insurance. If you already have supplemental life insurance through the Trust, you may increase your coverage by one times your annual earnings without a medical exam or other proof of insurability.

You may also cover your dependents with supplemental life insurance of $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 for your spouse, or $5,000 for each eligible child. For coverage of $20,000 or $30,000 for your spouse, you must provide evidence of insurability that is satisfactory to Prudential. If Prudential doesn't accept the evidence you provide, your spouse will be covered at the $10,000 level automatically when the new coverage begins (7/1 or 8/1).

See your enrollment highlights booklet for rates and the form to enroll, and your Supplemental Life Insurance plan booklet for details. The form should be mailed to Prudential by no later than May 11, 2001.

Need help with family responsibilities?

You are automatically enrolled in this service, at no cost to you. Working Solutions offers three major categories of service:

1. Adult/Elder Dependents
2. Special Needs Dependents and
3. Child/family services.

Working Solutions can offer information and referrals in these categories, as well as related legal, financial and chronic medical information.

Sample packets will be promoted during this enrollment period: The packets are only a phone call, fax, or mouse click away. As always, your request for this free information is confidential.

Mail: Return the postcard in your highlights booklet

Phone: 800-358-8515
Fax: 503-246-1533

Web: link through to Working Solutions

Camp information available April 1: no fooling

Online or by phone beginning in April, Working Solutions will offer summer camp information. You have the opportunity to have a Working Solutions counselor do a personalized search for summer camps for your child(ren). You must specifically request to have a counselor find specific camps for your children based on their location, interests, age, etc., otherwise you'll only receive the general information. You can make that request either by phone or web. This service is very popular, and this is the first time we've been able to offer it since the child/family services were added July 1, 2001. In April, there also will be a "Summer Fun" virtual information fair on the Working Solutions website that includes a camp locator service.

For Members with a year 0r more 0f continuous service

If you have at least one year of continuous State service, read on to learn more about the choices you have in dental and vision coverage. Established term employees should check with their Payroll/Personnel officers for eligibility/enrollment information.

Choosing a dental plan

You may choose either the Preferred Choice or Quality Dental Plans. Just remember that in the Preferred Choice plan, you should receive your care from a network provider to receive the higher level of benefits. Otherwise, you may want to review the Quality Dental Plan. Anticipate your dental care needs, think about which dentist you'd like to see and consider your plan options carefully before making a decision about your coverage for the coming year.

If you decide to make a change (if you already have dental coverage) or add dental coverage (if you didn't already have it), complete and return the Enrollment form on page 6 of your highlights booklet to your Payroll/Personnel officer by Friday, May 11. If you decide to stay with your current dental plan option, you don't need to do anything; your plan will stay the same.

Choosing a vision plan

You may choose Cole or VSP: Both plans cover the same types of
services, but have different networks, copayment levels and discount plans: for example, Cole's in-network copayment is $5 for an exam and materials, while VSP's in-network copayment is $25 for an exam and materials. Think about your vision needs for the next plan year, contact the plan(s) for more information regarding the provider you plan to see and consult the highlights booklet before deciding which plan option is right for you.

If you decide to make a change (if you already have vision coverage) or add vision coverage (if you didn't already have it), complete and return the Enrollment form on page 6 of your highlights booklet to your Payroll/Personnel officer by Friday, May 11. If you decide to stay with your current vision plan option, you don't need to do anything; you will remain in your current plan.

Researching your options

Before you complete the Enrollment Form on page 6 of your highlights booklet, please review your Dental and Vision plan booklets and this Trust Talk. Also, if you haven't yet contacted the dental or vision plans for network information, you may still have time to contact them now.

Basic life insurance update your beneficiary now!

If you have basic life insurance coverage (and you do if you have at least one year of continuous State service), now is an excellent time to update your beneficiary designation. We've included a form in your highlights booklet (p. 19), and encourage you to complete it and mail it to Prudential today. If you're not sure you've filed a beneficiary designation form, or who your beneficiary is, file a new form today with the designations you want.