Former Savannah River Site employees volunteer to help other site retirees receive Medicare benefits
May 13—A group of former Savannah River Site employees have managed to save their former co-workers $7.1 million as those co-workers make the transition from the site's medical plan to a Medicare-based retirement medical plan.
Laureen Feinman, manager of the Retiree Resource Center, said recently Savannah River Site Retiree Resource Center volunteers have helped submit more than $3.9 million in stipend requests and have helped their co-workers serve $3.2 million on their prescription medications.
Feinman said in 2013 DuPont determined that it would provide a stipend in lieu of continuing to provide medical benefits to employees falling under its pension plan. She said the volunteers work to make sure the new retirees select a Medicare supplement plan that will allow them to receive the stipend.
She said volunteer Don Stevenson, a former seismologist at the site, was a master of making sure former employees get their stipends.
"I just wanted to do something to help people out," Stevenson said. "A lot of these people are just not capable of navigating the computer. As time goes on, the retirees will be more and more computer savvy but, at this point in time, we're still dealing with a lot of people who don't like the computer or just don't have a computer."
Feinman said the volunteers also work to enter a new retiree's prescription medication into a database to determine which plan will save them the most money.
She said selecting the right Medicare supplement plan is a key for most SRS retirees. She said most of the retirees are part of a pension plan provided by either DuPont or Westinghouse and those plans don't receive a yearly cost of living adjustment like the pension plans provided by the Department of Energy to its former workers do.
Feinman added the Retiree Resource Center also provides monthly three-hour training sessions on the transition from the site plan to the Medicare-based plan, help to submit out of pocket reimbursement requests and works to improve a communication gap between the administrators of the site retirement plan and its members.
"A lot of us as we get older just don't hear well," Feinman said. "Using the phone and being rushed to pick an option: if you want this or want that. Was that four or was that three? It's not a good way of communicating for a fair number of people over 65. They want people to use the internet and log on but they want people to use two-factor authentication. People don't even have a smart phone. How are they going to have two-factor authentication?"
The counseling services provided by the Retire Resource Center are free but available via appointment only. Appointments can be made by calling 803-508-7065 and leaving a voicemail. A note on the bottom the webpage listing for the Retiree Resource Center adds voicemails are usually returned within 48-72 hours depending on volunteer staffing and other appointments.
