All Empire Plan members: URGENT

[efdcapt115 1,511]

**This is why all active and retired members PD/FD should be joining The New York Police & Fire Retirees' Association. This notification is worth at least $50 per year to all members covered in the Empire Plan during the time frame. I forget what the annual membership to NYPFRA is (something like $30 a year). Think it's worth it now? AND: A special thank you to the Executive Board members at NYPFRA, without whom this notification would not be getting to many members both active and retired who may be due settlement money.

ALL NYPFRA Members:

Urgent - Very important information and please pass the word ASAP.

There is a pending class action lawsuit against United Healthcare which

provides the basic medical component of the NYS Empire Plan, which most of

the membership has as their health insurance. Long story short, members who

have the Empire plan will be entitled to $50 a year from 1994 to 2009. All

they have to do is fill out a simple claim. The following is from the NYS

Court officers web site http://www.nysscoa.org/ : (claims MUST be postmarked

by October 5th, 2010) The web site for the lawsuit info is

http://www.berdonclaims.com

UNITED HEALTH CARE CLASS ACTION LITIGATION

As a result of a settlement of a Class Action Lawsuit against the United

Health Care Corp., all members that have the Empire Insurance Plan are

entitled to a settlement of $50 for every year that you were in the Empire

Plan between the years 1994 through 2009. The Class Action Suit had to do

with United Health Care providing insufficient reimbursement for out of

network services rendered or individual out of pocket expenses paid.

When filing under the Group A - Simplified Claim, there is no documentation

required. If you had a substantial amount of out of pocket expenses then you

might want to file under Group B - Out of Pocket Expense, however, you will

have to provide documentation for the out of pocket expenses that you

incurred. To do this, follow the instruction for Group B filing.

The forms that need to be filled out can be found on the United Health Care

web site ( http://www.berdonclaims.com ) click the center of the page where the red marker is located, then click onto:

Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action and Final Settlement Hearing and Proof of Claim Form print pages 10 - 15 only using the pages 10, 11 & 15 and mail only one person per envelope & mail it CERTIFIED Registered mail post marked by Oct. 5, 2010. & make a copy for your records!! Adress is listed below.

To file under Group A you must complete:

1. The Subscriber part of section 1 on page 10

2. Section 2 on page 11

3. Section 6 - Certification on page 15

Any questions on filling out the forms call: 800-443-1073

The completed forms can be mailed to: Certified Mail - you want proof of mailing and make a copy for your records.

United Health Care Class Action Litigation

c/o Berdon Claims Administration LLC

P.O. Box 15000

Jericho, NY 11853

Edit: to fix links

Edited September 28, 2010 by efdcapt115

[efdcapt115 1,511]

One more thing: If this affects you, and it's the first you are hearing of it, maybe you'll also start to see the value of supporting EMTBravo.

~Nuff said.

[2627 67]

One more thing: If this affects you, and it's the first you are hearing of it, maybe you'll also start to see the value of supporting EMTBravo.

~Nuff said.

[Does this pertain all members of Empire Plan or only those members of nypfra... Yes ,first I heard of this, glad I donate to EMT Bravo!

Edited September 28, 2010 by 2627

[efdcapt115 1,511]

[Does this pertain all members of Empire Plan or only those members of nypfra... Yes ,first I heard of this, glad I donate to EMT Bravo!

The first post was NYPFRA. The second, if you are in the Empire Plan and this benefits you, and you got it on Bravo.......well....

[Truck4 48]

It's not a flat $50 per year per member and not everyone qualifies. Members qualify if they incurred out of pocket expenses from going out of network.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

I should have distinguished the e-mail from my comment in support of NYPFRA. I do so because apparently Truck 4 has information that conflicts with this notice:

From: New York Police & Fire Retirees <info@nypfra.org>

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:43:48 -0700 (PDT)

To:XXXXXXXXXXXXX

ReplyTo: info@nypfra.org

Subject: All NYPFRA Members - URGENT INFORMATION

ALL NYPFRA Members:

Urgent - Very important information and please pass the word ASAP.

There is a pending class action lawsuit against United Healthcare which

provides the basic medical component of the NYS Empire Plan, which most of

the membership has as their health insurance. Long story short, members who

have the Empire plan will be entitled to $50 a year from 1994 to 2009. All

they have to do is fill out a simple claim. The following is from the NYS

Court officers web site http://www.nysscoa.org/: (claims MUST be postmarked

by October 5th, 2010) The web site for the lawsuit info is

http://www.berdonclaims.com

UNITED HEALTH CARE CLASS ACTION LITIGATION

As a result of a settlement of a Class Action Lawsuit against the United

Health Care Corp., all members that have the Empire Insurance Plan are

entitled to a settlement of $50 for every year that you were in the Empire

Plan between the years 1994 through 2009. The Class Action Suit had to do

with United Health Care providing insufficient reimbursement for out of

network services rendered or individual out of pocket expenses paid.

When filing under the Group A - Simplified Claim, there is no documentation

required. If you had a substantial amount of out of pocket expenses then you

might want to file under Group B - Out of Pocket Expense, however, you will

have to provide documentation for the out of pocket expenses that you

incurred. To do this, follow the instruction for Group B filing.

The forms that need to be filled out can be found on the United Health Care

web site (http://www.berdonclaims.com) click the center of the page where the red marker is located, then click onto:

Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action and Final Settlement Hearing and Proof of Claim Form print pages 10 - 15 only using the pages 10, 11 & 15 and mail only one person per envelope & mail it CERTIFIED Registered mail post marked by Oct. 5, 2010. & make a copy for your records!! Adress is listed below.

To file under Group A you must complete:

1. The Subscriber part of section 1 on page 10

2. Section 2 on page 11

3. Section 6 - Certification on page 15

Any questions on filling out the forms call: 800-443-1073

The completed forms can be mailed to: Certified Mail - you want proof of mailing and make a copy for your records.

United Health Care Class Action Litigation

c/o Berdon Claims Administration LLC

P.O. Box 15000

Jericho, NY 11853

This message was sent to you as a member of nypfra.org.

[Truck4 48]

Truck4 called them on the phone and thats what they told him.

[trauma74 111]

Does this also apply to former members of the Empire Plan. I was a dispatcher and had Empire Plan from 1998-2009. Does it apply to me?

[INIT915 1,119]

It's not a flat $50 per year per member and not everyone qualifies. Members qualify if they incurred out of pocket expenses from going out of network.

This conflicts with documentation provided by our Union.

[moggie6 54]

Like everything with calling to albany you can get two different answers is you call twice.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

It's not a flat $50 per year per member and not everyone qualifies. Members qualify if they incurred out of pocket expenses from going out of network.

Page 5, Berdon Claims PDF. Truck 4, in my opinion if you are or were in the Empire Plan during this period, you should file it.

Options for Subscribers

Group A – Simplified Claim Form for Subscribers. You may check the applicable box on page 11 of the Claim Form requesting the Group

A option, and you are only required to provide the number of years, during the period from 1994 through 2009, that you were a member of any

Defendant’s healthcare plan that provided Covered OON Services or Supplies. Please note that any portion of a given year should be treated as a

whole year.

If you are a Group A claimant, your Recognized Loss will be $50.00 for each such year. This Recognized Loss amount is based on the

average amount that more than 90% of United HealthCare’s healthcare plan members who submitted claims for Covered OON benefits received in

reductions, in total, over a one-year period.

[Truck4 48]

I was in the plan during that period. Just relating what they told me when I called.

[wraftery 1,275]

Page 5, Berdon Claims PDF. Truck 4, in my opinion if you are or were in the Empire Plan during this period, you should file it.

I agree with you, Cap. I filed under Group A and the description looks like an automatic $50

[Oswegowind 17]

It's not a flat $50 per year per member and not everyone qualifies. Members qualify if they incurred out of pocket expenses from going out of network.

This is going around at work too. I have had to point out numerous times to people that UNLESS YOU WENT OUT OF NETWORK AND PAID OUT OF POCKET YOU DON'T QUALIFY! Passing around of letters of class action lawsuits is super, as long as you make sure people understand it! If you didn't receive a form in the mail to you yourself, you aren't a part. That is the joy of these things, they are researched and the people affected directly are contacted, it is not a word of mouth event. I've gotten at least 3 class action lawsuits over the past 8 years, all because I was qualified and chosen to be a part of the lawsuit. I haven't ever gotten one word of mouth.

Read the last line of "A", OON stands for OUT OF NETWORK. Also defines that you had "submitted claims"...

So if you didn't submit a claim for out of pocket expenses for out of network issues, exactly how do you qualify.

If you can't live without the $50 a year, that you may not be entitled to, and get it, good for you and thanks from me personally because they will just raise our rates over the next few years to cover their loss. Everything that is done comes back around.

This Recognized Loss amount is based on the

average amount that more than 90% of United HealthCare’s healthcare plan members who submitted claims for Covered OON benefits received in

reductions, in total, over a one-year period.

Edited September 30, 2010 by Oswegowind

[efdcapt115 1,511]

This is going around at work too. I have had to point out numerous times to people that UNLESS YOU WENT OUT OF NETWORK AND PAID OUT OF POCKET YOU DON'T QUALIFY! Passing around of letters of class action lawsuits is super, as long as you make sure people understand it! If you didn't receive a form in the mail to you yourself, you aren't a part. That is the joy of these things, they are researched and the people affected directly are contacted, it is not a word of mouth event. I've gotten at least 3 class action lawsuits over the past 8 years, all because I was qualified and chosen to be a part of the lawsuit. I haven't ever gotten one word of mouth.

Read the last line of "A", OON stands for OUT OF NETWORK. Also defines that you had "submitted claims"...

So if you didn't submit a claim for out of pocket expenses for out of network issues, exactly how do you qualify.

If you can't live without the $50 a year, that you may not be entitled to, and get it, good for you and thanks from me personally because they will just raise our rates over the next few years to cover their loss. Everything that is done comes back around.

The settlement money is coming out of $350,000,000.00 that is being set up to pay "claimants." Why would you discourage people from trying to make a claim? Many members here have "The Empire Plan" and have received medical service from OON doctors or outside of "The Empire State." I can personally tell you of a $1,000.00 procedure I had done at a doctor's office in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The claim was submitted, and denied by the plan. I didn't receive anything special in the mail regarding this settlement. Your statement above is flat wrong in this case, and could be harmful to a potential claimant. Why is it upsetting to you that this information is posted and might help somebody else?

claim·ant   

[kley-muhnt]

–noun

a person who makes a claim.

The PDF file specifies "claimants" in the Group A filing. It does not specify if a person went out of network or not. For a few dollars postage, a member might get a settlement. Is it against the law for a member to participate in the filing? Ahh...no. Will everybody receive it? Ahh...maybe not.

Sharing this information here on the board is harmless. It alerts people to what is occurring, and maybe it helps somebody.

Yet, greed always brings out the worst of people, wouldn't you agree?

[wraftery 1,275]

OK, Oswegowind, if you believe all that you said then don't file.

I, on the other hand, filed. If I am denied, so be it.

You are correct in saying rates will rise but they will rise with or without the settlement.

I want my rates to decrease so I think I'll run for congress and vote myself exempt from the rules.

Now that's greedy.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

OK. Lets make this simple for all. If you aren't sure you qualify..submit the friggin paperwork. If you do..awesome..you'll get some cash. If you don't..they will let you know. I'll worry about myself (I submitted mine as well as numerous FD/PD personnel where I work) and not worry about he said, she said, albany said. I suggest many of you do as well.

[Guest fd62]

You know, this isn't rocket science,the problem is everyone is reading too much into this. The word "claimant" refers to anyone filing a claim under THIS settlement, NOT anyone filing a past claim for out of network expenses. If you file under option "A", it is already assumed you had out of network expenses of at least $50 per year. You do not have to provide any documentation, and will get a maximum of $800 if you were in the plan for the entire period. If you had expenses of more than $800, and have documentation proving it, then file under option "B" or "C". So if you can't use an extra $800 don't file. But, for those that are filing, it has to be postmarked by Tue 10/5.