The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says that while the standard monthly Part B premium will rise to $115.40 in 2011, most Medicare beneficiaries will not see an increase in their monthly Part B premiums.
This is because of a hold-harmless provision in current law that will freeze Part B premiums at the amount paid in 2010.
It is those who newly enrolled in Medicare Part B during 2010 who will pay the new $115.40 monthly premium in 2011.
Additionally, those who do not have their Part B premiums withheld from Railroad Retirement or Social Security payments, or those subject to income-related additional premium amounts will pay a higher premium in 2011.
The income-related additional premium threshold is annual adjusted income of $85,000 for individuals and $170,000 for married couples.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that only about 5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries with Part B will pay higher premiums in 2011 because of their higher annual incomes.
As for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plans, those premiums vary from plan to plan.
Beginning in 2011, the Affordable Care Act requires Medicare Part D participants, whose modified adjusted gross incomes exceed the $85,000 and $170,000 thresholds, to pay a second premium in addition to the standard Plan D premium.
Medicare beneficiaries affected by the 2011 Part B and D income-related premiums will receive a notice from the Social Security Administration with further details on the higher Part B and Part D premiums they will face.
Los Angeles Metrolink — a 512-mile commuter rail system, which serves the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernadino and Ventura — is moving to be the first railroad to install and implement a positive train control (PTC) system.
PTC is collision avoidance technology that monitors and controls train movements remotely, can prevent train-to-train collisions, prevent unauthorized train movement into a work zone, halt movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position, and stop trains exceeding authorized speeds.
Congress has mandated that freight and passenger railroads install PTC on designated lines by Dec. 31, 2015.
To view an animated depiction of how PTC works as a safety overlay system to improve railroad safety, click here.
WASHINGTON – A number of issues important to UTU members and working families is on tap for debate and vote this week as Congress returns for a lame-duck session.
It is called a lame-duck session because House and Senate members who lost their seats in the Nov. 2 election remain in office until Dec. 31.
It is often said that lame-duck sessions are the most difficult for finding compromise — crucial to the democratic process — because those who lost the election are unhappy and know they are going home; while many Republicans want issues to be held over for the new Republican House majority and smaller Democratic Senate majority to consider when 100 new and largely Republican lawmakers take their seats in January.
Here is a summary of the most important issues to UTU members:
Although a new — 2011 — federal fiscal year began Oct. 12, Congress has yet to pass a single federal spending bill owing to partisan politics.
Instead, Congress has passed temporary extensions of last year’s spending legislation – the current extension expiring Dec. 3.
Failure to pass new spending legislation – or a further extension of last year’s spending bills until at least March 2011 – could result in the complete shutdown of the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, National Mediation Board and National Labor Relations Board.
More than two million long-term unemployed Americans face a loss of jobless benefits Dec. 31 if legislation is not passed extending those benefits. Historically, Congress has extended long-term unemployment benefits when the jobless rate is high.
Working families face significant increases in their tax bill next year if Congress fails to pass legislation hiking the ceiling on the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
The AMT was enacted decades ago to ensure wealthy Americans, with numerous tax-avoidance schemes, pay some taxes.
When the AMT was originally passed, it was not indexed for inflation. Congress perennially has passed a temporary increase in the income level subject to the AMT, but if it fails to do so, again, during the lame-duck session, 26 million middle-class families could be facing an average of $2,600 in higher taxes when they file federal returns April 15, according to the Associated Press.
Working families also will suffer if Congress fails to extend the federal income tax deduction for state and local sales taxes, property taxes and college tuition payments before Dec. 31. Otherwise, they will not be allowable deductions when federal taxes are filed April 15.
Retirees will suffer if Congress fails to prevent a Dec. 1 scheduled 23 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to physicians.
Legislation passed in 1997 provided for formula cuts to such payments; but, each year since, Congress has prevented those cuts from taking effect.
If the lame-duck Congress fails to act, cuts of 23 percent in payments by Medicare to physicians will take place Dec. 1, and another 1.9 percent cut in those payments will take place Jan. 1.
If the cuts are imposed, many physicians say they will stop accepting new Medicare patients.
Retirees also will lose if the lame-duck Congress fails to approve a one-time $250 special payment to Social Security and Railroad Retirement beneficiaries who will not receive a cost-of-living (COLA) increase in their benefits in 2011 owing to a freeze on regular benefits payments under a formula tied to consumer inflation.
Calling or e-mailing your congressional lawmakers and urging them to focus on these issues would be beneficial. Click on the following link for information on how to identfiy and contact your lawmakers:
Comparing embryo high-speed rail projects with the birth of the Interstate Highway system more than half-a-century ago, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week that the competition America is facing is not between Democrats and Republicans, but “between the United States and countries around the world that have laid tracks for economic growth.”
LaHood was joined at the podium by Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo at a National Mediation Board sponsored conference on passenger railroad labor-management relations. Other co-sponsors of the Philadelphia conference were the Labor Relations Association of Passenger Railroads and rail labor organizations.
In introducing LaHood, National Mediation Board Chairman Harry Hoglander called him “the Obama administration’s champion for high-speed rail, recognizing that our transportation infrastructure is more than roads, runaway, tracks and shipping lanes — it is the lifeline of our economy and the way we lead our lives and pursue our dreams.”
LaHood said the core of the Obama administration’s multi-billion-dollar initiative on high-speed rail systems is the “building of bridges between Americans who need jobs and jobs that need doing — jobs like building a 21st century rail system.”
More than $10.5 billion in federal funds — mostly funded through a congressionally approved economic stimulus package — has been committed by the Obama administration to more than 20 HSR projects nationwide.
“As a consequence,” said LaHood, “we have made a down payment on a national rail system that within 25 years will give the vast majority of Americans the option of traveling from city to city by high-speed intercity passenger rail. Twenty-five years from now, 80 percent of America will be connected with high-speed intercity passenger rail — that’s a lot of jobs and a lot of train sets.”
LaHood said that in conversations with experienced European and Asian rail-equipment manufacturers, who have built high-speed rail systems in other nations, he urged them to “find shuttered plants [in America] and hire American workers and build the train sets in America. We have good workers, and if they need to be retrained, we will provide the money to do that.
“We are at the point in America where we were with the Interstate Highway system [in 1950s],” LaHood said. When President Eisenhower signed legislation to begin the Interstate Highway system, “not all the lines were on the map and we didn’t know where all the money was coming from. Fifty years later, we had a state of the art highway system — and 25 years from now, we will have a state of the art high-speed rail system, second to none in the world.”
Szabo promised that for all high-speed rail projects partially funded with federal dollars, “rigid buy America provisions will apply.” In addition, he said, high-speed rail operators “will be deemed rail carriers under federal law,” placing employees under Railroad Retirement, the Railway Labor Act and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.
In the wake of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — his state beset with financial woes — canceling a proposed $10 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River linking New Jersey and New York City, word spread that New Jersey Transit and Amtrak had opened talks to fund and build the tunnel.
As reported by northjersey.com, Amtrak issued a statement Nov. 11 that “We’re no longer interested in this project. There were exploratory talks going on with NJT. The talks have stopped. That was commuter rail, and we are interested in intercity rail projects.”
It was in the movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, this memorable line was spoken: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Opening in movie theaters Nov. 12 is a movie combining fact and legend — the Hollywood version of a near-run railroad calamity on CSX in 2001.
Two UTU members — Terry Forson and Jess Knowlton (both members of UTU Local 1397, Columbus, Ohio) — served as technical consultants to 20th Century Fox. More about Forson and Knowlton shortly.
The movie, Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (who played Capt. Kirk in last year’s Star Trek movie), builds, according to Railway Age magazine Editor William Vantuono, on previous Hollywood blockbusters “depicting tidal waves, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, towering infernos, comets and asteroids hurtling toward Earth.”
The plot summary:
A railroad frantically works to prevent an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train, carrying combustible liquids and poisonous gas, from wiping out a city.
A veteran locomotive engineer (Washington) and a young train conductor (Pine) chase the runaway train in a different locomotive in order to bring the runaway under control before it is too late. In one scene, the veteran engineer tells the rookie conductor, “This ain’t training. In training, they give you an F. Out here, you get killed.”
According to Vantuono, If you like “plenty of explosions, fire, spectacular crashes, wrecked police cars, near misses, overly dramatic television reporters, helicopters, gut-wrenching dialogue (‘We’re talking about a missile the size of the Chrysler Building’), innocent children (on a school trip, naturally), and guns,” this is a movie for you.
Perhaps to delight further, the Hollywood perspective depicts carrier officials as more concerned with stock prices than public safety or employee well-being.
Hollywood wasn’t enamored with the CSX locomotive color badge, either. The Unstoppable movie’s locomotive reminds one immediately of the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe’s famous War Bonnet livery.
As for fact vs. legend, the movie is loosely based on a 2001 incident where an unmanned CSX consist — a locomotive and 47 freight cars, two containing hazmat — traveled more than 60 miles, at speeds approaching 50 mph, for two hours through northwest Ohio.
According to news reports at the time, the unidentified engineer of the runaway train had dismounted to line a switch. He had applied two locomotive brakes, but inadvertently grabbed the throttle lever instead of the third braking lever; and by the time he realized his error, he was already off the locomotive and it was moving too quickly for him to climb back aboard.
Chasing the seemingly unstoppable and unmanned CSX consist was the crew of a second train, which eventually coupled onto the runaway and slowed it to about 10 mph near Kenton, Ohio.
At that point, CSX trainmaster Jon Hosfeld ran alongside the runaway; and, putting himself in danger, climbed aboard, applied the brakes and shut down the locomotive.
As for the UTU members who served as technical consultants to the movie producer, Forson and Knowlton actually were the crewmembers who chased down the runaway CSX train. No, neither Forson nor Knowlton was the unidentified engineer who failed to set all three locomotive brakes on the runaway.
As for the hazmat carried by the runaway train, in reality it would not have blown up Metropolis. The hazmat actually was thousands of gallons of molten phenol acid, a toxic ingredient of paints and dyes that is harmful when inhaled, ingested or in contact with the skin.
With the election over, change has come to Washington. Since 2001, the congressional political majority has shifted three times. New majorities are nothing new to our UTU legislative team.
While most UTU-endorsed candidates were re-elected, we did lose friends with whom we had long and positive relationships. Thankfully, the UTU is a bipartisan organization that works with lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.
In the now Republican-controlled House of Representatives, there will be new committee chairpersons – those posts mean everything. Chairpersons decide which bills have hearings and are moved to the House floor for a vote.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) – very knowledgeable on rail, bus and transit issues, and an advocate of investment in infrastructure – likely will chair the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, where most transportation legislation is first considered. He is one of many Republicans endorsed by the UTU and has exhibited strong support for Railroad Retirement. His door is always open to hear UTU concerns on legislation affecting our membership.
In the Senate, the key committee for transportation legislation is the Commerce Committee, and it likely will continue to be chaired by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), another UTU friend. Job number one for the National Legislative Office and talented state legislative directors now is to establish and maintain a dialogue with the newly elected members of Congress and state legislatures – Democrats and Republicans.
Our message will be consistent and focused on job security, better benefits and workplace safety.
Our UTU PAC will continue to be a crucial tool we use to influence legislation. Our UTU PAC helps to establish and maintain relationships. Working families cannot afford to write the large checks provided election campaigns by corporations and wealthy executives. We counter those efforts through our UTU PAC.
Our goal is to have every UTU member registered to vote, paying attention to the issues and contributing $1 per day to the UTU PAC.
You can commit to the UTU PAC by contacting the treasurer of your local, or by calling our Washington legislative office at (202) 543-7714.
Be assured that the UTU will continue working to protect Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits, secure dependable funding for Amtrak and transit systems, make our jobs more secure and the workplace safer.
Medicare is the primary health insurance for retirees and their spouses. It is available for those over age 65, those under 65 with certain disabilities, and those of any age with permanent kidney failure. It consists of Parts A, B, C and D.
Part A helps cover inpatient care in hospitals and a skilled nursing facility, hospice and home health care.
Part B helps cover doctors’ services, hospital outpatient care and home health care, as well as some preventive services to help maintain your health and to keep certain illnesses from getting worse.
Part C is a Medicare advantage plan similar to an HMO or PPO — health plans run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies. Medicare advantage plans generally include Parts A, B and D.
Part D is a prescription drug program provided by a Medicare-approved private insurance company to help cover the cost of prescription drugs.
You should enroll in Medicare Parts A, B and D when you are first eligible. If you delay enrollment, you will be subject to additional costs for the coverage.
Railroad employees should call the Railroad Retirement Board’s toll-free information line at 877-772-5772 for enrollment and other information, or Palmetto GBA at 800-833-4455.
Medicare can send you a handbook, “Medicare & You,” explaining all aspects of Medicare, or the handbook may be ordered or downloaded at the Medicare website.
WASHINGTON — In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Nov. 10 Federal Register, the Federal Railroad Administration proposes to make Jan. 1, 2012, the effective date for implementation of conductor certification.
The rulemaking on principles, elements and methods of conductor certification was ordered by Congress in the 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act.
The NPRM — preceding publication of a final rule, expected in early 2011 (ahead of implementation) — was developed through the FRA’s Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), comprised of stakeholders, including affected labor unions, railroads, suppliers, manufacturers and FRA safety experts.
The various stakeholders had many conflicting objectives for the rulemaking, and the NPRM is a consensus document that required compromise among all stakeholders.
The UTU was represented on the RSAC Conductor Certification Working Group by a team appointed by International President Mike Futhey:
* Local 1470 Chairperson Director David Brooks
General Chairperson (GO 049) John Lesniewski
UTU Training Coordinator and Local 528 Legislative Representative Ron Parsons
National Legislative Director James Stem
Alternate National Legislative Director John Risch
Local 645 Chairperson Vinnie Tessitore
UTU Rail Safety Coordinator for Designated Legal Counsel Larry Mann
The UTU will respond to NPRM with recommendations for improvement and change in the final rule — as will all stakeholders. The FRA will make the sole determination as to contents of the final rule.
Following are major provisions of the rulemaking. A link to a more detailed summary of the 53-page NPRM is provided at the end of this article.
Conductors who must be certified are defined as “the crewmember in charge of a train or yard crew.”
Trains are defined as freight and passenger trains on railroads that connect to the national rail network.
Conductor certification does not cover assistant conductors, brakemen, yard helpers, switchmen, utility men, switch tenders, flagmen or others not in charge of a crew.
Railroads must implement a formal process — to be approved by the FRA — for training conductors and determining they are competent.
To be qualified for certification, a conductor must successfully complete all instruction, training and examination programs required by the carrier. Conductors must also meet minimum federal safety standards, including minimum hearing and vision standards.
Passenger train conductors must have received emergency preparedness training to be certified.
Current conductors will automatically be certified (grandfathered).
Conductors may be decertified for between 30 days and three years, depending on the number of violations.
Conductors will be required to notify the railroad if convicted of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and will be decertified if found to have an active substance disorder.
Decertification may also take place when FRA safety regulations are violated (such as failing to take appropriate action to ensure a locomotive engineer adheres to train speed limits and signals and signposts, or fails to perform or have knowledge that a required brake test was performed).
Decertified engineers will not be allowed to work as a certified conductor while decertified, nor will decertified conductors be allowed to work as certified engineers. An exception is that a conductor, decertified for violating a 49 CFR Part 218 safety regulation, will be able to work as a certified engineer.
If the railroad permits, a decertified engineer or decertified conductor may work, for example, as a brakeman, a passenger train assistant conductor, or in another non-certified position.
If the railroad permits, decertification time may be used for retraining.
All crews are required to have a certified conductor assigned. The NPRM is crew consist neutral, but provides that a lone engineer must be certified as both an engineer and a conductor, or be accompanied by a certified conductor.
The process for appealing decertification can be extremely lengthy, and require an attorney-at-law. Mann cites a decertification he is challenging — involving an engineer — that has now dragged into its fifth year. Mann said streamlining the appeals process, before the final rule goes into effect, will be among the top priorities of the UTU.
Although conductor certification carries the risk of decertification, the UTU RSAC Conductor Certification Working Group said certification will enhance the proficiency of UTU members, making them ever more professional and indispensable.
Collective bargaining, not the FRA rulemaking, will determine whether a certified conductor receives additional pay.
Click here to read the 53-page Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
How long will you live after you retire, and will you have enough money to live on comfortably?
Good question. That’s why – before you retire – you should think about post-retirement economic security, because few things could be worse than money running out during what are supposed to be carefree years.
A balanced retirement portfolio should resemble a three-legged stool.
The first leg is your Tier I Railroad Retirement, Social Security or CalPERS (the California retirement system for public employees), plus Tier II Railroad Retirement and/or an employer pension.
The second leg is the equity in your home, plus your personal savings, such as certificates of deposit and mutual funds.
The third leg of this financial stool are annuities, IRAs, 401(k) plans and whole life insurance.
These three financial legs are the assets to support you through retirement. The fewer legs, or the lower value of any legs, could mean a less secure financial situation during retirement.
Determining available assets before you retire is essential. You may, for example, choose to wait another year or two before retiring and build up assets in one or more legs of your financial stool.
Younger members are wise to consider these financial legs long before they retire.
The UTUIA can help build the third leg of your financial stool prior to, and even during, retirement.
UTUIA whole life policies provide a death benefit while accumulating cash value. The death benefit protects your surviving family if you die; and the cash value becomes a source of tax-deferred savings available during your retirement years.
UTUIA annuities and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) earn guaranteed interest that is tax deferred until you draw down the balance. You may invest in UTUIA annuities up to age 85.
Existing IRAs and/or employer 401(k) plans may be rolled over into a UTUIA IRA.
To learn how the UTUIA can help make your retirement more secure, talk with a UTUIA regional insurance manager, call the UTUIA toll-free line at (800) 558-8842, or click here.
By James Stem,