H.B. 315 Assigned to FIRES Committee; Open-Enrollment Assistance Available to Retirees

House Bill 315, which contains the proposal for creating an ongoing, dedicated revenue stream for the STRS Ohio Health Care Program, has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities (also known as the FIRES Committee). No hearings have been scheduled as yet.

The members of the FIRES Committee are: Representatives Chris Widener (chair), Kevin Bacon, William Batchelder, Todd Book, Armond Budish, David Daniels, Dan Dodd, Clyde Evans, Bob Gibbs, Jay Goyal, William Healy, Cliff Hite, Joseph Koziura, Eugene Miller, Allan Sayre, Dan Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Tom Patton, Carol-Ann Schindel, Matt Szollosi, Mark Wagoner, Sandra Williams and James Zehringer.

This bill carries with it the support of the Health Care Advocates for STRS (HCA) — a coalition of major management, professional and retiree organizations representing Ohio’s public K-12 and higher education teachers. This member-driven initiative calls for increasing public teachers’ contributions to STRS Ohio by 2.5% and their employers’ contributions by 2.5% of teacher payroll to create an ongoing, dedicated revenue stream for the STRS Ohio Health Care Program for current and future retired educators. These increases would be phased in over a five-year period, in .5% increments. The bill was introduced by Rep. Scott Oelslager, along with 14 co-sponsors, on Sept. 18, 2007.

Members who would like to share their position on H.B. 315 with the members of the FIRES Committee can do so via mail using this address: Ohio House of Representatives, 77 S. High St., Columbus, OH 43215-6111. Additional contact information (phone numbers and e-mail addresses) can be obtained by calling toll-free 1-800-282-0253 or by using this Web site: http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/Representatives.jsp.

Need Assistance with Open Enrollment? Attend a Health Care Program Highlights Meeting
To help guide retired members through the health care open-enrollment decision-making process, STRS Ohio is offering “Health Care Program Highlights for 2008” on multiple dates throughout Ohio this fall.

During these meetings, STRS Ohio representatives will review 2008 health care premiums, plan design changes and cost-saving measures, as well as discuss the transition to STRS Ohio’s new pharmacy benefits manager, Express Scripts. All health care plans will be discussed at all of the meetings. Plan administrators and Express Scripts will have representatives at every meeting. This includes Aetna, Medical Mutual, Paramount (in its areas), Aultcare (in the Canton area), Kaiser (in the Cleveland area) and Express Scripts.

Attendees will be given the opportunity to ask questions at the meeting’s conclusion. Registration is required. Register by calling STRS Ohio toll-free at 1-888-227-7877 or register online. Space is limited and there will be a limit of one guest per member. Attendees will receive a confirmation letter after registering.

Meetings will be offered at 9:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on each date, with the exception of Tuesday, Nov. 13, when meetings will be offered at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Meetings will last no more than two hours; dates and locations are as follows:

For more information, or to register online, click the link below: http://www.strsoh.org/resources/2k.html

Return to the list of STRS Ohio news e-mails sent in 2007.