We’ve made some headway in our continuing efforts to provide equitable treatment for all members of the CBC pension plan. The CBC has finally agreed that permanent part-time employees no longer will have to wait two years to participate in Part II of the plan. That waiting period is going to be eliminated and participation in the plan will become mandatory for all new permanent part-time employees. Part-time employees who currently are in the waiting period will have a one-time opportunity to opt in. The changes come into effect in 2010, and the CBC will be releasing more details soon. Your representatives at the Consultative Committee on Staff Benefits will keep pushing for improvements in access to the plan.
The CCSB has approved some new guidelines our Special Assistance Fund. It was set up years ago as a compassionate fund to provide assistance for special or extraordinary healthcare expenses that aren’t covered by other plans. In general, we don’t approve requests to top up claims submitted to other health plans, but over the years we have helped people pay for hearing aids and mobility devices. We now have put caps on the amount of assistance that may be provided for those items.
Hearing aids will be limited to $2,000 per ear, once every five years. The maximum amount for mobility devices will be $7,000 for a wheelchair and $5,000 for a specialized scooter. Under the SAF, the maximum that anyone can receive over a lifetime is $10,000. More information about the SAF is available at the CMG website.
At the December meeting of the CCSB, we met with representatives from Great West Life to discuss the administration of our Long Term Disability plan. We talked about ways of ensuring that claims by members who become ill for extended periods get processed promptly. Great West and the CBC say they have been reviewing some of the processes they use to make sure problems are identified early so that they can be addressed before someone is left without income or other benefits. At present about 310 CBC employees are on LTD.
Our next meeting will be in April in Ottawa.
Your representatives at the December CCSB:
Bob Fisher
Marc-Philippe Laurin
Ralph Legare
Carrie May
Barbara Saxberg
Jon Soper
Gabi Durocher
Dan Oldfield