HCREA

officers

Joseph FleischnerPresident

Barbara Toczko

First Vice President

John Cinciarelli

Second Vice President

Theresa Schillari

Treasurer

Grace Ann LeporeRecording Secretary

Karen Babinski

Corresponding Secretary

Bill DeRosa

Immediate Past President

Hudson County Retired Educator's Association

1600 Kennedy Boulevard

Jersey City, New Jersey 07305

President's MessageDear Members

Happy New Year and welcome back for the second half of the

2018/2019 membership year. Annual members should be

hearing from NJREA by June or early summer that their dues

should be paid early enough so that your membership is not

interrupted. Lifetime members in NJREA will receive their

renewal envelopes from HCREA for local dues by early

summer. Remember, local dues will increase to $15.00 for the

membership year of 2019/2020 and thereafter.

As promised, the HCREA is getting ready to join the 21st century. Four

members of your executive board have attended a workshop at NJES

headquarters to learn how to set up our web page and we have joined

Mailchimp, which will enable us to reach out to all the members who had

given NJREA an e-mail address when they first enrolled. If you hadn't done

that or changed your e-mail address recently you can still do it now by

sending me your name & e-mail addrtess. I will then put you on the master

list to receive periodic e-mails from HCREA. You may also opt out from the

e-mail blasts to members if you wish.

By the time you receive this newsletter, you will have received a mailing

from HCREA for the next two events (Spring Luncheon Meeting and the

June Annual Cocktail Party). If you haven't, already, please fill out those

reservation forms if you wish to attend one or both of those events.

New text 1

Member Benefits You should know that there are many financial benefits associated with your HCREA/NJREA membership. The green

Member Benefits booklet that was given to all attendees at our recent luncheon/metting lists many of these benefits. If you have

misplaced this booklet, you can go online to find out these many benefits:

1) go to member benefits.njea.org

2) log in with your PIN (on your NJREA membership card)

3) everything that Member Benefits offers is on this page

4) scroll down to ACCESS DISCOUNTS and click SEARCH ACCESS

5) be sure to follow the instructions to download the My Deals mobile app so you can find savings on the go.

You can also contact Buyer's Edge, Inc. at 800-755-5008 for major purchases such as automobiles, appliances, etc.

NEA Member Benefits is offering personal loans. If you are interested, you can call 1-888-800-9556 and use the priority

number2018-3181-1538-8003-90676.

Many people ask what they get for their membership in our organizations. By using these services, you can save a great deal

of money.

What to do when things go awry - Health BenefitsJudi Ruff, NJREA Health Benefits Chairperson

Change no matter how well planned is never without a glitch. In the last two years, NJREA/SEHBP retirees have faced changes

in their prescription drug coverage carrier as well as movement into an Aetna Educators’ Medicare Plan.

For many members, it has been a smooth, uneventful transition. For others, there have been issues with physicians, office staff,

precertification, as well as prescription denials resulting in stressful interactions with subsequent appeals. It is this second group

that contact NJEA/NJREA to receive some assistance.

It is important to understand that it is not NJEA but the State of New Jersey / Division of Pensions and Benefits providing the

benefits for eligible retirees and their dependents. NJEA staff can provide guidance to the member when issues arise, but they

cannot deal directly with the members’ physicians. Members need to be their own advocates and that includes reaching out for

assistance when needed.

In order to provide meaningful as well as timely assistance, a procedure was developed last year. We ask members to use the

procedure whenever possible. The information can be found on the NJEA/NJREA website and is as follows:

New process for benefits questions

In an effort to allow members to access health benefits information that is accurate and efficient, the NJREA Health Benefits

Committee is deploying a new communication model. This approach will help the committee better serve NJREA members and

allow for more effective communication with the NJEA Research staff.

Should you have any questions regarding your state-paid, post-retirement medical benefits, please direct them to your respective

county REA presidents. The presidents and NJREA Health Benefits Committee members (listed below) receive frequent, up-

to-date information about retirees’ benefits and are aware of the latest issues and how they are being handled. Should the

county REA president not be able to answer your question, he/she will contact the health benefits committee member

assigned to your county.

Members of the NJREA Health Benefits Committee include:

Joseph Fleischner (Essex, Hudson, Union) joseph108@earthlink.net

Ron Giordano (Bergen, Passaic, Sussex) coventree@optonline.net

Linda Chororos (Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset) linchor@optimum.net

Bette Kirk (Mercer, Middlesex, Salem) bkirknurse@aol.com

Susan Jakob (Cape May, Gloucester) sueaj@comcast.net

Barbara Satz (Hunterdon, Morris, Warren) basaben@mac.com

William Sia (Atlantic Camden, Cumberland) wspublius@verizon.net

Judith Ruff (Burlington) tortiegertie@gmail.com

2