Health coverage is a complex issue. The members have expectations regarding the quality and cost of care, and want to retire with security. But the cost of medical care has exploded. Not just increased but really ballooned. And with funding tied to a collective bargaining, neither the employers or union members want negotiated wage increases to be redirected to cover medical costs.

To protect quality health care while controlling costs is a challenge and requires the full attention of the Board of Trustees and the plan professionals. New benefit structures are examined, costs are watched closely, detailed projections are formulated and demographics monitored. In other words, the performance of each health plan is watched very, very carefully.

As for the service to the members, the Plan Manager responds to questions regarding eligibility and service issues with providers such as Kaiser, PacifiCare or Delta Dental. Frequently members will call with questions on plan rules such as “is my daughter who is attending college still a dependent?” Each year there is open enrollment allowing participants to change service providers and this process is handled by the Plan Manager. The Plan Manager also administers the dollar/hour bank and handles COBRA issues.

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Union pension plans are a powerful wealth building tool for each union member. These plans, whether defined benefit (annuity) or money purchase (separate account), allow the union member to dedicate pre-tax funding into these plans during their working life. These plans are managed by a labor-management board of trustees so that investments, benefit structures and non-benefit costs are watched closely.

The Plan Manager provides the infrastructure to these plans so that employer contributions are tracked and posted, each participant’s master record is updated, questions are answered, pre-retirement orientations are available and retirements are processed resulting in the members receiving their retirement payments. The Fund Manager also directly supports the Board of Trustees.

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Vacation accounts allow the member to direct post-tax deductions into a holding account that is available for vacations, year-end disbursements and emergency withdrawals. Vacation trusts also act as an efficient vehicle to pay union dues and special assessments.

The Plan Manager posts the employer monthly payments to each member’s account and handles the payouts.

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Convenient access to information on a member’s benefits is a very significant enhancement of service. Being able to directly access one’s health or pension plan account, to review the Summary Plan Description, have access to forms online, to check the employer contribution history are all enhancements to the value of these plans.

For health trusts, web sites have the ability to list a member’s employer contribution history, note their dollar/hour bank balance, make available the Summary Plan Description and contain links to service provider sites.

For pension trusts, the web sites contain the components noted above but also contain the current cumulative status of each member’s pension account. Whether a participant is an apprentice or a 30-year veteran, being able to check on their pension accounts is reassuring and helps plan for retirement. Web sites may also contain retirement forecasting tools that import data from the member’s defined benefit and money purchase plans.

Trustees also have the option to use a dedicated web site as a library of key plan documents. Items such as minutes, audits, policies, trust and plan, SPD, insurance and master calendar are examples of content that can be loaded for the convenience of the trustees and plan professionals.

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