Dec. 9, 1999
This is MEC
Vice Chairman Bill Archer with the MEC Hotline update for Thursday, December 9.
Tonight’s topics are:
PPO/HMO Plans
If you are on an HMO plan, the company says there is a drug list of which some
FAA-approved medications are not approved. If you are on FAA-approved medication, make
sure that your pharmacist or doctor does not substitute another medication which may not
be FAA-approved. If you are given a substitute, immediately contact the ALPA Aeromedical
Office for advice, and then inform the R&I Committee so that they can follow-up with
CIGNA and Employee Benefits.
Also, according to the company, our PPO drug claims are no longer processed through RX
Prime. They are now processed through CIGNA and the Medicom system, which is the same
system used prior to RX Prime. New cards will be issued next year; however, the old cards
are still valid.
On a separate note, Employee Benefits is trying to get all outstanding prescription
drug claims paid to pilots who were denied by RX Prime. If you still have an unpaid claim,
please fax all of your receipts to Mary Wade in Employee Benefits at 480-693-8603.
Arbitration Updates
Concerning the Ed Sherman arbitration, on November 24th, MEC Chairman Roger
Cox sent a letter to senior management requesting the company to provide in writing by
December 6th a game plan for compliance with Arbitrator Sinicropi’s award.
As you may recall, the award in the Ed Sherman case confirmed ALPA’s understanding of the
contract that disability benefits run until normal social security retirement age. As you
can probably predict, December 6th has come and gone without any contact from
management on this matter. Accordingly, Captain Cox has turned this matter over to ALPA’s
Legal Department for enforcement of the arbitrator’s decision in federal court.
Maintenance Reminder
Rest Requirements
Fenix Flight Deadline
MEC, LEC and Local Council Meetings
That’s it for tonight. The next hotline update will be on
Thursday, December 16. We appreciate your listening, and we’ll talk to you next week.
- PPO/HMO Plans
- Arbitration Updates
- Maintenance Reminder
- Rest Requirements
- Fenix Flight Deadline
- MEC, LEC, and Local Council Meetings
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MEC Hotline |
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There is some confusion about how to handle medications on the PPO and HMO programs. Let
me offer some help. If you are on a PPO program, you should never be denied a particular
type of drug. I ran into this problem several months ago and after many repeated efforts
of the Benefits department and Diana Welle, we were able to get the matter resolved. If
you run into problems, let your R&I Committee know.
As we reported last week, Arbitrator Eaton clarified his decision in the arbitration by
stating that pilots on disability or OJI for more than three years will continue to
receive health insurance benefits at the active employee rate. The three year condition
stems from the company’s wrongful belief that once a pilot’s medical leave of absence
expired under section 13.F. of the Contract, the company was entitled to start charging
pilots for insurance at the COBRA rate, as opposed to the active employee rate – a
difference of close to $500, in some instances. It now appears that the company may
actually be in compliance with this award in that the Benefits Department will re-enroll
disabled/OJI pilots who have been off the property for more than three years into the
company health plans at the active employee rate. If you are such a pilot, please contact
the AWA Benefits Department.
Several months ago, we started reminding pilots of the necessity to make a logbook entry
any time maintenance was called to the aircraft, regardless of the issue. Today, we want
to re-emphasize that message. Remember, if you call maintenance, write it up. If you
don’t, you are in violation of the FARs, and the company’s FOM. Take the time to do it
right, as it will save you from certificate action later.
The company will be instituting the FAR-required rest and duty limits on December 12. The
changes will force some new rest requirements on your part as a line and reserve pilot. If
you have any questions please call one of your LEC reps.
Pilots interested in submitting articles for publication in the January-February 2000
issue of the Fenix Flight should do so by December 20. Articles should be sent to
Communications Specialist Yvette Freeman at the MEC office either on disk or via email.
Yvette’s email address is [email protected]. As a reminder, all submissions will be
edited for grammar, punctuation, and clarity. Anonymous submissions will not be published.
Both the MEC and LEC will hold their regular meetings on Tuesday, January 11, 2000. The
MEC meeting is at 9am; the LEC meeting will be at 5:30pm at the Doubletree. A Local
Council meeting will follow the LEC meeting at 6pm. The guest speakers will be ALPA’s
assistant director of Representation, Ken Cooper, and the Negotiating Committee. All
pilots are encouraged to attend.
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