News

Retirement Fund In-State Private Equity Investment Program On April 7, 2009, the NYS Comptroller released a report on New York State’s Common Retirement Fund In-State Private Equity Investment Program. With this release, he also announced a series of regional meetings to help identify potential investments in New York State for more than a half-billion dollars, available through the In-State Private Equity Investment Program. The following is a link to direct you to a copy of the report, which can be viewed at http://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/pension/instate0309.pdf

 

Green Initiative Annual ReportThomas P. DiNapoli, the NYS Comptroller released the Green Initiative Annual Report for 2009 to make OSC a sustainable, environmentally responsible agency in all areas of the work they do.  The Report includes information related to the policies outlined in my Executive Order on Energy and the Environment, issued in 2007. The order directed OSC to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner and to increase efficiency through energy and natural resource conservation; environmentally responsible purchasing practices; and reduction of harmful emissions. It provided for a Sustainability Team which would identify long term changes that decrease negative environmental impact in OSC. And the team has helped to spur significant internal changes. For example, the Albany building is applying for Gold LEED certification. Through operational changes, we have reduced paper use by 18% and CO2 emissions by 650 tons. To this end OSC recently launched the Green Strategic Investment Program, committing $500 million in pension funding to investments in clean technology. To read more, click here for a copy of the 2009 Green Initiative Report.

NCOA to Create Jobs for Older Americans Through Labor Department Stimulus Funds
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) began an ambitious program on April 1, 2009 to create more jobs for low income older workers in several states, thanks to $6.9 million in stimulus funding from the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) under the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).Part of the American Recovery and Investment Act, the funds were awarded to NCOA because of its decades of successfully training people age 55 and over for community service work under the SCSEP program.  NCOA has been responsible for training and placement of 20,000 thousand people since the program began in 1969. Currently, NCOA operates programs in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, California and Tennessee, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana.

 

NYS Department of Civil Service issues a Warning!!!!!

Avoid Health Care Telephone Scams

There has been a reported case of a retired Empire Plan enrollee who was approached via telephone by a caller who indicated that they worked for UnitedHealthcare (UHC). This caller said that she was looking to obtain the retiree’s checking account routing number. The caller told the retiree that, with this information, she would withdraw $349 from the retiree’s checking account and then the retiree would no longer have to pay their health insurance premium. Fortunately, the retiree did not give the information and immediately contacted UnitedHealthcare’s Customer Care Staff.  This information was passed along to the Manager of UHC’s Special Investigations Unit, who then contacted the retiree to gather additional information.

If you receive any calls of this nature, please be advised that neither The Empire Plan nor UHC ever solicits bank account information from any enrollee. Under no circumstances should you provide this information if you are asked for it. Also, if you receive a call that resembles this call, try to determine the name of the company the caller represents, the address or any other information that would be useful to report to UHC’s Customer Care Staff at 1-877-7-NYSHIP (1-877-769-7447).

Progress is slow in isolating and shutting down these caller hubs, but aware and alert enrollees will know enough to avoid becoming a victim of this type of telephone scam.

The case reported involved the Empire Plan but could easily surface with other companies. If you have a different Health Insurance plan and receive a call resembling the above, contact you plan administrator immediately.

 

RPEA Fights Misinformation about Retiree Health Insurance Bill

ALBANY--- The Retired Public Employees Association, speaking on behalf of public service retirees across the State, wants to set the record straight over recently published misinformation concerning the New York State Legislature’s intent to examine health insurance issues for retired governmental employees.

Stan Winter, RPEA President, stated “both houses of the Legislature, led by Senator Farley and Assemblyman Abbate, have introduced bipartisan legislation which recognizes that adequate and affordable health insurance coverage is a vital issue for over a half million retired public employees and their dependents.  These taxpaying New Yorkers dedicated their working lives to the service of the people of this State and must not be abandoned now that they are in their later years and existing on mostly fixed incomes.”

Recent articles, fostered by the NYS Association of Counties and the Manhattan Institute,  see the plight of these senior citizens as an easy opportunity for their own political ends.  They state that the legislation would guarantee perpetual free or nearly free health insurance benefits and would prevent economies at the state and local levels of government.  Mr. Winter pointed out that a reading of the bills (S6457-A/A9393-A) hardly calls for that sort of rhetoric and makes him wonder why these self anointed experts would make such a misrepresentation.

These bills simply do two things. First, they call for the establishment of a broad based and expert task force to carefully study and recommend cost effective ways of dealing with a complex issue facing governments at all levels.  Secondly, they provide a one year moratorium prohibiting diminishing the health insurance benefits provided to public service retirees or the contribution towards such coverage below that provided to active employees.  In other words, governments would not be precluded from reducing overall health insurance costs.  They would simply be required to provide fair and even handed treatment for all.

These bills clearly do not conjure up some kind of sweetheart deal such as the golden parachutes we hear of in connection with corporate executives.  They simply call for careful review, analysis and recommendations for cost effective solutions – steps that are essentially good government and that should be embraced by state and local government

officials.

 

Albany Times Union Editorial – Pension Priorities,  Despite broad support for the reform -- known as the Forgotten Mommies Bill -- the measure remains stalled in a committee. The Senate is a different story, having twice voted to grant these women Tier I status. Click Here to read

 

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Editorial - N.Y. lawmakers must reject protective measure on retirees' health benefits. They're being stuck with the tab for retirees' health costs  Click Here to read

 

The New York Times News about retirement, including commentary and archival articles published in http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/retirement/index.html

 

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State Announces New Consumer Website to Help New Yorkers Find Least Expensive Prescription Drugs- The Search NY Drug Prices website searches drug prices by zip code, city, or county; provides brand-name and generic drug prices; lists pharmacies’ addresses and phone numbers; and provides driving directions. It was developed and will be maintained by the Department of Health. http://www.rx.nyhealth.gov