Frequently Asked Questions
Medicare benefits fAQs
If you are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits you will continue to be covered until you reach age 65 at which time you must apply for Medicare Parts A & B. You must apply at least 3 months prior to your 65th birthday so that Medicare will become your primary coverage for your medical expenses and EIT will become your secondary coverage when your EIT retirement healthcare coverage begins. If your dependent is not yet entitled to Medicare EIT, will remain the primary coverage for your dependent until they become Medicare eligible. If you are not entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, you will need to find insurance to bridge the gap until you reach age 65. You can visit the Marketplace (www.healthcare.gov) for coverage options.
If you become disabled, are receiving Social Security disability benefits and are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, you must apply for Medicare Parts A and B so that Medicare will become primary coverage for your medical expenses and EIT will become your secondary coverage. If you have a covered dependent that is not disabled, their coverage will continue with EIT as primary. If you have a disabled dependent, they must be enrolled in Medicare Parts A & B so that Medicare will become primary coverage for their medical expenses and EIT will become their secondary coverage
If you are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, your disabled dependent is required to take Medicare Parts A & B so that Medicare will become their primary coverage for their medical expenses and EIT will become their secondary coverage when your EIT retirement health coverage begins.
You are not required to take any action. You may continue to be covered until you decide to retire. If you are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits you must apply for Medicare Parts A & B at least 3 months prior to your retirement date so that Medicare will become your primary coverage for your medical expenses and EIT will become your secondary coverage when your EIT retirement healthcare coverage begins.
If you are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, your disabled dependent is required to take Medicare Parts A & B so that Medicare will become their primary coverage for their medical expenses and EIT will become their secondary coverage when your EIT retirement healthcare coverage begins.
If you are retired and entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, your spouse’s active family coverage will be primary, and your Medicare coverage will be secondary and EIT’s Retiree Healthcare coverage will bill as tertiary. When your spouse’s active coverage terminates, Medicare will become primary for you EIT Retiree Healthcare coverage will pay as secondary. In this situation, EIT will be your spouse’s primary coverage until he/she becomes eligible for Medicare. At that time, Medicare will become his or her primary coverage and EIT Retiree Healthcare will become secondary.
As long as you continue to be an active, covered participant of under and EIT Plan, your disabled dependent coverage remains the same. If the disabled dependent is entitled to Medicare while the participant is still active, Medicare is secondary.
As long as you continue to be an active, covered participant of EIT, your spouse is not required to take Medicare Part B. However, if you are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, your spouse must already be enrolled in Medicare Parts A & B at the time of your retirement, as Medicare will become primary coverage for your spouse’s medical expenses and EIT Retiree Healthcare will become secondary coverage when you retire. It is important to have your spouse apply as soon as you plan to retire to avoid gaps in Medicare and EIT coverage.
You must immediately notify the Social Security Administration (SSA) that you have returned to active employment. If you do not notify the SSA, it may result in an overpayment of your Social Security benefit. It may also result in EIT presuming that you still have Medicare Parts A & B as primary and your claims will be incorrectly processed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.
You must apply for Medicare Parts A & B so that Medicare will become your primary coverage for your medical expenses and EIT will become your secondary coverage.
Under the Plan, EIT assumes you or your Medicare entitled dependents are enrolled in Medicare and that Medicare is paying 80% of eligible expenses. Therefore, if you or your Medicare entitled dependents are entitled to EIT Retiree Healthcare benefits, the Plan will pay the claims as if you were enrolled in Medicare Part B and will consider eligible claim expenses at 20% of Medicare approved allowance. Failure to elect Medicare Part B and notify EIT may result in an overpayment of your claims and you may be responsible for repayment of all claims processed incorrectly
Important: If you and your spouse fail to have Medicare Part A & B coverage in place at the time of your retirement and you and/or your spouse are Medicare Eligible (meaning that you have entitlement to Medicare as a result of being over age 65 or due to an SSDI award), you will be responsible for paying the amount that Medicare would pay as primary payer and EIT would pay as secondary payer. This could be a costly mistake, so please make sure that you have Medicare Part A AND Part B at the time of your retirement. SSDI award dates may impact the date you are considered “retired” under the Plan.
This contains information on various benefits, but it does not give you all of the details. The official plan documents have all of the details. If there are any differences between this information and the plan documents, the plan documents will govern. If you have any questions about your benefits, please contact the Fund Office at (312) 782-5442.
HRA FAQs
No. The IRS will not allow it; it is only for reimbursement of medical expenses for you and your eligible dependents.
If you have “unsubstantiated” card transactions and submit an online or mobile app claim, HealthEquity will use that claim to offset an unsubstantiated one.
Yes. The Fund Office can provide a receipt of payment. You can use that receipt to submit your request for reimbursement using either the EZ receipts app or WageWorks/HealthEquity online portal.
No. This account is only funded by the contributions made by your employer while you are working during covered employment.
Suspension/low balance forfeitures are reallocated to the H&W Plan to offset administrative fees for those inactive accounts. Death forfeitures are reallocated to all members with active accounts annually.
Need Additional Information?
For additional information about Medicare please call the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at 1-800-MEDICARE (800) 633-4227 or visit their website at www.medicare.gov
