TeamCare offers assistance to members affected by Hurricane Helene
Monday, September 30, 2024
The Trustees of the Central States Health Fund are concerned about the devastating effect that Hurricane Helene has had on our TeamCare members throughout the southern states. National, state, and local officials have declared a state of emergency in certain areas and the Federal Emergency Management Agency continues to work to improve conditions.
During this crisis, the Trustees would like to assist our members in any geographical area where a state of emergency has been declared and remind them of the following TeamCare benefits to help them stay safe and healthy:
- Continued Coverage - For active members who are unable to work because of the effect of Hurricane Helene, TeamCare will provide continued healthcare coverage without COBRA contributions until October 26, 2024. This continued coverage will also be extended to covered family members.
- Vision Benefits – For active and retired members who have TeamCare vision coverage, if glasses or contacts were lost due to the hurricane, TeamCare will waive the 12-month time limitation on new glasses or contacts.
- Prescription drugs through CVS Caremark
- TeamCare will reimburse retail and mail-order co-payments for prescription drugs that need to be filled due to being lost in the hurricane.
- All limitations regarding “refill-too-soon” prescriptions have been lifted.
- Until mail service is restored, individuals currently using the Caremark’s mail-order service will be allowed to obtain their medicine at any retail outlet. TeamCare will reimburse for any additional costs incurred on prescriptions filled at out-of-network retail outlets.
- Out-of-Network health care providers - All penalties related to utilization of out-of-network health-care providers will be waived until November 30, 2024.
- Filing deadlines - All filing deadlines will be waived (i.e. Cobra, appeals, etc) until November 30, 2024.
- Mailings – Participants and retirees may instruct TeamCare to mail all correspondence to an alternative address outside of the affected area.
To have these benefits applied to any affected member, Local Union staff should contact their Field Service Representative or Michael Mullane at (847) 939-2297. The Trustees’ thoughts and prayers are with our members and retirees during this disaster, and we will continue to evaluate the situation.
Click below to download a PDF version of this special bulletin.