VERMONT RETIRED STATE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, INC.

    A meeting of the Trustees of the Vermont Retired State Employees Association, Inc. was held at the Vermont State House in Room Number 41 Montpelier, VT on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. President Cornelius Reed called the meeting to order at 9:30 A. M.

    The following officers and trustees were present: Cornelius Reed, President, Allen N. Blake, Vice President, Vivian Butler, Treasurer, Roger Dumas, E. Hale Ritchie, Wayne Calderara, Joe Healy, Rod Maclay and Ed. Larson, Lobbyist. 

    Absent: Janice Abair and Cedric Smith, Secretary.

The Secretaries Report: Upon the absence of the Secretary, the minutes of the March 17, 2011 meeting were not presented. Said minutes will be presented at the May meeting for approval.

    Kate Duffy, Commissioner of Human Resources and Nicole Wilson, Benefits Direct attended our meeting per our request. Kate mentioned that for the past several weeks the State and VSEA have been negotiating various coverage revisions to the Cigna Health Plan and possibly reduce the number of Multiple Health Plan Options to try to Save the State an additional $2,000,000. Whatever is negotiated has to be ratified by the VSEA Rank and File. Since VRSEA/Retirees are not included in the bargaining Labor Laws, our approval is not required. However, Kate said that we should be given the opportunity to Review the negotiated results but the time frame will be very short to respond or make changes. The negotiating team from VSEA includes the Chairs of the Bargaining Units, Terry Macaig, Terry Aiken and Goldie Watson.
    Kate also indicated that she expected the Retired employees committee on Insurance Benefits should become active by the end of this month. This committee was brought to the attention of Jeb Spaulding, Secretary of Administration and Kate at a meeting that VRSEA had with them on March 29, 2011. Both Jeb and Kate were unaware that this law was on the books and expressed interest to active said committee ASAP. VSEA had been notified by Human Resources to appoint their three members but had not yet done so. VRSEA representatives to said committee are Al Blake and Roger Dumas who were nominated and approved by our board on this date. Kate expressed enthusiasm about working with the joint group of VRSEA, VSEA and the State in fulfilling the mandate of 3 V.S.A. Chapter 21, Sect: 636.
    Express Scripts, Kate mentioned that the changes to the Drug program in 2010 which was limiting the issuance of certain drugs and also causing additional expense to the member participant has been corrected. Express Script has been instructed to revert back to the original Policy.
   Nicole talked about the various benefit programs such as Flu and Wellness Clinics administer by her office. She explained that these programs are funded from the Medical Premiums paid by the State and the participants. The programs are established via negotiations with VSEA. She mentioned that Anne Carver and Jerry Fry are the benefit specialists who respond to all the calls and questions regarding our health plan administered by Cigna as well as the Drug program coverage. Nicole is a former employee from the private insurance world which she mentioned gives her an inside understanding of the workings of the insurance industry. She was very open about wanting to share her knowledge about insurance programs and the ability to identify what works well and what doesn't. She indicated that there is an important need to develop and promote education and understanding of our health plan.
   Michael Waiter was reconfirmed as the newest member of our board. Roger Dumas made the motion and seconded by Wayne Calderara and Mike was officially approved by the board. Last month's board action had omitted the verification of his status as a paid member of good standing.
Janice Abair, A letter of resignation from the VRSEA Board has been requested by the Guardian for Janice, Dan Rowan. Secretary Smith has accommodated this request and sent a letter for his signature to confirm Jan's resignation. It is our understanding that Jan now resides at the Rowan Court facility on upper Prospect Street.

The Treasurer's Report: Vivian Butler, Treasurer, presented the April 13, 2011 report. Vivian reported that the membership dues continue to come in. She mentioned that we have picked up over 80 new members that had not belonged. On a motion by Joe Healy and seconded by Roger Dumas, the Treasurer's Report for April 13, 2011 was accepted and approved.

New Business: E. Hale Ritchie, chair of the By-Law review committee submitted a draft of all the recommended changes for consideration by the board. He asked everyone to review the draft and come prepared to discuss at the May meeting. The goal is to have final changes ready for approval by the membership at the annual meeting. Al Blake and Roger Dumas also serve on this committee.
    The President, Mr. Reed would like to have another newsletter published ASAP around the first part of May to keep in touch with our members and update them on all the activities that are taking place. Roger has offered to circulate a draft outline of suggested Subjects to write about in the letter, to everyone by e-mail to get their feedback. We also plan to have a mailing on the Legislative wrap-up as well.

Lobbyist: Ed Larson, S.0086, sponsored by senator Brock and McCormack for VRSEA to change the U.S. Ave CPI to the Northeast version has been voted out of the Senate Gov Ops committee and forwarded to the Appropriation Comm. The only recommended change is to advance the effective date to June 30, 2011 which would make the June CPI applicable to the Jan 2012 Cola.
    H.0448 is a committee bill to increase the State Employees retirement contribution rate by 1.3% to help reduce the State's cost by $5,300,000. This bill will help protect the existing benefits for future retirees and eliminate the pay reduction impact to future retirees after July 1, 2011. There is a possibility that our bill, S.0086 may be attached to this committee bill.
    H.0202, Single Payer Health Insurance Initiative has passed the House with amendments to exempt the State Cigna Plan from being impacted by said proposal. However, it's now in the senate and not clear how it will sugar off but it appears that if passed, it will take several years for implementation.

    On a motion by Roger Dumas, seconded by Vivian Butler, the meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a. m.

    The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 9:30 a. m. at the State House in Room 41.