March-April 2019 Living Power Newsletter
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Livingpower For all who have made a living and now wish to make a life March - April 2019 Volume 35, Number 2 President’s Message IN THIS ISSUE No matter when I sit down to write my message to you, I often have more to President’s Message ..............................1 share than our newsletter allows, and Locating Lost Insurance and today isn’t any different. However, I’m Annuity Policies.......................................2 keeping my message shorter this month 2019 Legislative Session ......................3 to share contact information for the NC House Members, members of our 2019 General Assembly. Alphabetically by County ................4-5 I especially want you to know how NC Senate Members, hard your NCRGEA staff and Board of Alphabetically by County ................5-7 Directors work for you. We are tirelessly AmWINS Medicare Linda S. Suggs, working to convince lawmakers that a Supplemental Insurance ......................7 NCRGEA President cost of living adjustment is vital for our Attn: Member Spouses - Be An retirees—a tall order in a time of declin- Associate Member .................................8 ing revenues and fears about unfunded liabilities. Cost of living Living Power in Large Print .................8 adjustments are good for NC’s economy and needed by our retir- Final Expense Insurance .......................8 ees. In North Carolina, retirees contribute $6.9 billion in economic Local Government Federal output. But due to stagnating cost of living adjustments and ever- Credit Union .............................................8 2019 Retiree Pay Dates .........................8 Carolina Cruise & Tours .........................9 thanincreasing $21,000 inflation, per year, the and value a pension of your worthpensions $20,479 continues in 2008 to slide had The Hearing Bones .................................9 declineddownward. in value The average to $17,405 pension by 2018. benefit The in picture North Carolinais even more is less Access Perks Discount Program ..... 10 dire for local government retirees who have gone even longer Office Depot Store without COLAs. We work hard to be sure legislators know these Purchasing Card ................................... 11 realities. Another hurdle we face is that “unfunded liabilities” of the retirement system and the State Health Plan are often lumped Sign Up to Receive Email Legislative Reports .............................. 12 together. These are important issues for the future economic well- being of our state and need to be addressed. We want to work with legislators to protect our great retirement system – currently the 2nd best funded system in the US (behind North Carolina Wisconsin) and the 22nd largest in the world - yes, the WORLD – Retired Governmental Continued on Page 2 Employees’ Association President’s Message cont’d according to our State Treasurer’s staff. Keeping this engaged and active on your behalf, but we need excellent system strong and adequately funded is our you also to be well informed, engaged, and active. top priority. And if there are ways to strengthen it Please don’t hesitate to approach legislators in even more, we certainly want to support changes to your communities, let them know that you are a accomplish that and to allow for cost of living adjust- member of NCRGEA and thank them for their sup- ments without jeopardizing the health of the system. port. Share your concerns with them. And stay in touch with our staff and Board members. We are Day of the 2019 session of the General Assembly almost 70,000 strong in NC. If we all work togeth- and Your then Board held arecently full Board conducted of Directors its first meeting Lobby the er, we can make a difference! next day. Both events were successful due to the dedication of your fellow retirees who serve on the Linda Suggs Board and are your Association’s leaders. They are President, NCRGEA Locating Lost Life Insurance Policies or Annuity Contracts Losing a loved one can be one of the most heart- breaking and stressful times of your life. It may or other policy documents, contact the insurance become more challenging if your loved one had a companypolicy documents. to see if they If you issued find auto,a life homeownersinsurance life insurance policy or annuity contract and you’re policy or annuity contract unable to locate policy documents or identify the insurance company. If you are searching for a lost for checks, receipts, or transactions involving life life insurance policy or annuity contract, consider insurance• Examine companiesthe decedent’s financial statements the following: • Check the decedent’s incoming mail for insurance Use the Lost Life Insurance Policy Locator company premiums, claims, or other notices. The North Carolina Department of Insurance • Ask Financial Advisors, Agents, Attorneys, or (NCDOI) created the Lost Life Insurance Policy Employers Locator http://www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/ Finding_a_Lost_Life_Insurance_Policy.aspx to help attorney to see if they advised on or were aware of consumers locate lost life insurance policies or any• Contact life insurance any known policies financial or annuity advisor, contracts agent, or annuity contracts purchased in North Carolina. • Contact the decedent’s employer to determine if they had any group life insurance. well as executors and legal representatives of a de- Look for Unclaimed Property ceasedIndividuals person, who can believe submit they an are online beneficiaries, form or mail as a completed form to the NCDOI. These requests https://www.nctreasurer.com/Claim-Your-Cash/ are forwarded to all North Carolina-licensed life Claim-Your-NC_Cash/Pages/default.aspx Contact the state’s unclaimed property to office iden - insurance companies who are instructed to contact tify any unclaimed money from life insurance companies. Review Personal Financial Records •beneficiaries Review the decedent’sif a policy is records located. for insurance Article provided by: Living Power is published to provide current information for For address changes, suggestions or comments, please contact: NCRGEA’s membership. Newsletters are printed bimonthly NCRGEA • 528 Wade Avenue • Raleigh, NC 27605-0561 and mailed to all members of NCRGEA. Your comments are 919.834.4652 • 1.800.356.1190 • www.ncrgea.com welcome. To receive Living Power newsletter electronically, please send Editor: Richard E. Rogers, Jr. an email to [email protected] and include your full name and Managing Editor: Donna K. Riggs the city where you live. 2 Living Power 2019 Legislative Session Legislators just returned to Raleigh for the 2019 State Treasurer Folwell’s efforts to protect the legislative long session and we are already walking quality and sustainability of the State Health Plan the halls and knocking on doors on behalf of our are critical and timely. Rising unfunded liabilities, NCRGEA membership. As always, the legislature’s increased life expectancy, and mounting healthcare main job is to develop and pass a balanced biennial costs together forecast a bleak future for the plan; State budget. And as always, your Association is a future that if mismanaged could turn from bleak always working to have a cost of living adjustment to crisis. included in that budget. Good stuff so far. But not all believe the State We need you to play your part in this effort. Our Treasurer’s plan will come without severe conse- legislators need to hear from you now more than quences on our state’s smaller communities—and ever. We are also publishing the phone and email the hospitals that serve them. For example, Trea- address of the 2019 legislative members alpha- surer Folwell’s plan is receiving ample criticism betized by county in this issue. If you don’t know from both medical and hospital groups. Critics say his plan may jeopardize the current hospital net- through a zip code search on the General Assem- work’s ability to provide and maintain quality care bly’swho representswebsite www.ncleg.gov you; you can find. your legislators across the state’s large geographically vast regions. When you contact legislators, tell them who you If so, this ripple effect may increase healthcare are, how you served, and that you and the more disparity, limiting a person’s access to care and than 270,000 government retirees across North potentially the services they may need, namely, in Carolina not only need but deserve a cost of living our rural hospitals. adjustment. Remember, a pension is a promise, The State Health Plan itself is a behemoth not a gift. Our legislators need to know it is time to among insurance plans. It is the largest health keep their promises. insurance plan in North Carolina and among the largest in the United States. With a yearly price The Cost of Transparency: Potential Changes tag of $3.3 billion, the plan covers more than to the State Health Plan Bring Support, 727,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and Criticism dependents. More than 225 Medicare-eligible and We all agree that transparency and good gov- non-Medicare eligible retirees participate in the ernment go together. Our State Treasurer Dale plan today. While applaudable, the “Clear Pricing Folwell is currently pitching the “Clear Pricing Project” is an effort we must take seriously—with Project”, which upon execution, would provide all eyes open. While the NCRGEA supports medi- State Health Plan participants with a new net- cal billing transparency, such transparency must work of healthcare providers that agree to bill the not come at the cost of our retirees’ healthcare and State at the Medicare rate plus 77 percent. We’ll quality of life. With members in all 100 counties, know exactly what is charged for every procedure making sure quality of life is safeguarded comes covered by the State Health Plan, a “no brainer” many of us would think should have happened We will follow these very important issues as decades ago. thefirst General for us. Assembly session continues. As the The project, at least at face value, is easy to session continues, we will encourage you to con- understand and support.