Annual Notice
To All Employees and Dependents:
This Notice is to inform you of the following:
- Routine Physical Exam Benefits Increase.
- Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act Annual Notification.
- HIPAA Privacy Update.
- Enclosure: Important Notice of Prescription Drug Creditable Coverage. Please take time to read this Notice carefully as it contains valuable information on your options regarding Medicare Part D.
Routine Physical Exam Benefits Increase
The maximum payable per person per calendar year under your Routine Physical Exam Benefits will increase from $510 to $522 effective January 1, 2008, to coincide with the January 1 increase to the Health Dynamics fee.
Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act Annual Notification
The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 requires that we notify you annually of the coverage required under this Act.
The Act amended ERISA by requiring group health plans which provide medical and surgical benefits for a mastectomy to provide the following coverage if you elect breast reconstruction in connection with a mastectomy, in a manner determined in consultation with the attending physician and the patient:
- reconstruction of the breast on which the mastectomy has been performed
- surgery and reconstruction of the contralateral breast to produce symmetrical appearance; and
- coverage for prostheses and physical complications of all stages of mastectomy, including lymphedemas.
Subject to any applicable deductible and copayment requirements, your Plan provides coverage for the preceding items. Such surgical benefits are payable on the same basis as any other surgical procedure covered by the Plan.
HIPAA Privacy Update
On April 14, 2003, the HIPAA Privacy Regulations went into effect for the Wisconsin Carpenters’ Health Fund. In April of 2003 (or when you enrolled, if later), the Plan provided you a Privacy Practices Notice as required by the Privacy Regulations. This Notice provided information regarding the Plan’s uses and disclosures of your Protected Health Information (PHI), your rights regarding your PHI, and the Plan’s duties to protect the privacy of your PHI.
Even though the Plan previously provided you with the Privacy Practices Notice, it also is obligated by law to notify you every three years that such Notice is available upon request.
To request a copy of the Plan’s Privacy Practices Notice, please contact the Fund Office at: (715) 835-3174 or 1-800-424-3405.
Please keep this Notice in your Summary Plan Description (SPD) booklet for future reference. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Fund Office.
Yours very truly,
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
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