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Prescription Benefits Improved for Wheeling-Pitt Retirees, Spouses
06/22/2007 - The United Steelworkers announce a benefit increase for Medicare-eligible Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel retirees who lost health coverage when the company reorganized under Chapter 11 and subsequently enrolled in the Wheeling-Pitt Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association’s Advantra programs.
The United Steelworkers (USW) announced a benefit increase for all Medicare-eligible Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel retirees who lost their health coverage when the company reorganized under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection and subsequently enrolled in the Wheeling-Pitt Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association’s (VEBA) Advantra programs, effective July 1, 2007.
The benefit improvement will place a flat co-payment on drugs that previously had percentage co-pay. Plan participants will now pay as little as $10 for preferred generic drugs and up to $50 for specialty drugs. The potential savings for plan participants will be significant.
USW District 1 Director Dave McCall said that the union is proud to continue honoring the men and women whose sacrifices over the years enable today’s union members to build better lives for themselves and their families by providing coverage for the retirees who lost their benefits in bankruptcy court.
“We are living up to our promise to provide a meaningful, ongoing benefit that meets the needs of our retirees and their families,” he said. “The VEBA committee has worked to ensure that participants’ premiums have either dropped or remained level since its inception.”
The USW negotiated the VEBA with Wheeling-Pitt as a result of the company’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganization to provide health care, prescription drug, and life insurance benefits for as many as 10,000 retirees and surviving spouses since 2003.
The Wheeling-Pitt VEBA trust is funded by contributions from the company, based on earnings and steel tonnage. Benefits are jointly determined by Wheeling-Pitt and the union, depending on funds available and the needs of eligible retirees. The USW-negotiated VEBAs at Wheeling-Pitt and other steel companies are historic in being the first ever to restore benefits to retirees who worked for bankrupt or liquidated companies that had been purchased by new firms.
