In a previous Article the General Committee advised that on October 30, 2009 the UTU International announced on its website a national group voluntary short-term disability (VSTD) plan for all rail members they have secured from Anthem Life Insurance Company.  Therein we also advised the specifics of the plan will be mailed out to each individual member before the end of the year. 

In a nutshell the Anthem VSTD plan pays up to $346 per week (approximately $1500 per month) for up to 52 weeks, and provides 24/7 coverage for accidents and illness; all for the price of $31 per month.  In order to guarantee initial coverage regardless of health conditions UTU members (including UTU engineers) will automatically be enrolled in this disability insurance coverage effective February 1, 2010 (for CSX members) unless they waive coverage by returning the “opt out” postcard included with their mailing to the International.  These “opt out” elections can be made at any time, but will only become effective when received by the International.   Consequently UTU Engineer members wishing to waive coverage at the outset of the plan should return their “opt out” postcard as soon as possible, but in no event beyond December 11, 2009, in order to avoid ever incurring the $31 per month premium assessment for disability insurance.  It should also be noted that once a member opts out of coverage, he/she will be required to pass a full underwriting inspection (at their own expense) to re-apply for these group benefits should they change their mind in the future. 

UTU Engineers must be especially careful when making a decision to retain the Anthem VSTD plan, because they are also covered by the BLET’s Short-Term Disability Insurance Plan A benefits (non-occupational disabilities), and may be covered by the Plan B benefits (occupational disabilities) when they are working in the craft of engineer.  H&W eligibility is earned when an employee performs the “requisite amount of service” (7) days in a month for coverage in the following month. If at least one (1) of those days was worked in engine service, the engineer (even while working in train service) is automatically covered by Part A of the BLET’s Short Term Disability Plan, for non-occupational disabilities, for the following month.  If a UTU engineer opted for Plan B of the BLET’s Short Term Disability Plan by making a $276 payment annually to the BLET trust fund, they are also covered by that plan for occupational disabilities the following month.

The purpose of this article is to warn UTU engineer members they need to take these BLET Short Term Disability payments into consideration when making their decision whether to retain the Anthem VSTD policy because BLET Short Term Disability benefits flowing from this other group policy are considered a “deductible source of income” and the monetary benefits therein will offset against the net benefit our UTU engineers will enjoy from their $31 per month investment in the Anthem policy.   As a result, UTU engineers that retain the Anthem policy by failing to return their “opt out” card to the International will receive only the $50 per week Minimum Weekly Benefit for their premiums while they are still collecting Railroad Retirement Sickness Benefits and BLET Short Term Disability Plan A or Plan B benefits. 
       

Notwithstanding the above, some UTU engineers will find the Anthem policy is a benefit anyway and will retain it because they do not carry BLET Plan B benefits, and they will realize the full benefit of $1499.34 per month in Anthem benefits for an occupational disability, regardless of craft designation (engineer or trainman).  They may also recognize they will receive a return of $1261.00 per month for a non-occupational injury, even with BLET Plan A coverage, once their RRB sickness benefits expire and find that desirable.  Others will decide the return is not sufficient to justify the $31 monthly payment.  That is a matter of personal preference.  This information is not provided to encourage a UTU engineer member to opt out of the Anthem VSTD policy, nor is it intended to encourage members to retain the plan.  The information is merely being provided as a service for our engineer members to help them make an informed and intelligent decision as to whether the Anthem Voluntary Short Term Disability (VSTD) policy makes sense for them.

As noted earlier the Anthem VSTD policy pays up to $346 per week (tax free) for up to 52 weeks (after a 30 day elimination period) of injury or illness occurring either on or off the job.  Individual employee-paid disability policies, such as those purchased through UTUIA, do not offset against the VSTD plan.  The maximum payment a member can receive from all group disability plans and this policy is $693 per week or 67% of the employee’s base pay, whichever is less.  Therefore this benefit may be offset by disability benefits received from outside sources paid for by the Railroad and other group plans.  This would include Railroad Retirement Sickness Benefits and the BLET Short Term Disability Plan flowing from their 2003 National Agreement; both of which would offset against the $693 (or 67%) per week maximum benefit. 

Currently U.S. Railroad Retirement Sickness Benefits pay $64 per day; $320 per week; $1392.00 per month (21.75 work days) for the initial 26 weeks, with extended benefits of up to 13 weeks for employees with 10+ years of service.  The BLET Short Term Disability Plan benefits, which pay for one year the same as the Anthem VSTD plan, currently pays $402 per week ($1742 per month.  A brief analysis of the Anthem policy illustrates that the maximum payout a B&O trainman can collect is $693 per week, or approximately $3003 per month, from a combination of Anthem, RRB Sickness Benefits and the BLET Short Term Disability Plan; and the Anthem portion of that payment cannot exceed $346 per week (approximately $1499.34 per month). 

If UTU engineers feel these benefits warrant the $31 monthly premium, by all means they should retain the Anthem policy by doing nothing.  The Anthem premiums will automatically be deducted from their paycheck each month.  If they do not feel the additional potential supplemental sickness benefits warrant the $31 monthly premium they can waive coverage at any time by returning the “opt out” card to the UTU International.  If they want to avoid any premiums whatsoever, however, their “opt out” card must be received by the International on or before December 11, 2009.  Once again UTU engineer members opting out need to understand they can only re-enter the plan by passing a full underwriting inspection (at their own expense).  The choice belongs to each member individually.

I hope this information will assist our UTU engineer members in making an intelligent and well informed decision on whether to accept the Anthem Voluntary Short Term Disability policy or opt out.  More specific benefits of the Anthem plan are outlined in the mailing each member will receive from the UTU International; but I felt it important to point out to our members the BLET Short Term Disability benefits they already receive because those benefits will offset the monthly insurance payout they stand for under the Anthem VSTD plan as outlined above.