HURLEY, Va. — The Norfolk Southern locomotive engineer who suffered a bullet wound in the NS Hurley yard here Sept. 20 reportedly confessed to shooting himself, according to news reports citing the sheriff’s office in Buchanan County, Va.
Hurley is some 100 miles south of Charleston, W.Va.
Engineer Mark Jarrell, 41, of Canada, Ky., suffered a non-life threatening wound to the upper torso around 8:30 p.m., Sept. 20, and was treated at an area hospital. According to news reports, he initially told sheriff’s deputies he was shot by an unknown assailant as he exited a locomotive, causing sheriff’s deputies, Virginia state police and Norfolk Southern police to search the area most of the night for a gunman. A handgun was found near the scene.
Jarrell now faces a charge of giving false information to a police officer during a criminal investigation. The Buchanan County sheriff was quoted by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph newspaper that Jarell admitted the gunshot wound was self-inflicted and that additional charges could be filed against Jarrell.
Ambulances transport critically ill or injured passengers to hospitals every day. They also take patients with non-emergency conditions to hospitals, critical access hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes and other medical facilities to treat serious health conditions.
Some of these transports are scheduled in advance, and some are not. Both emergency and non-emergency ambulance services may be covered by Medicare if it is established that using any other kind of transportation would endanger your health.
When Medicare establishes that other means of transportation would harm your health, “medical necessity” is proven. Medicare determines medical necessity by examining the notes the ambulance personnel make while documenting your trip. For non-emergency services, Medicare also requires a signed statement from your doctor indicating that you must be transported by an ambulance due to your condition.
Sometimes the ambulance company will ask you to sign an Advance Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage (ABN). They can only do this for non-emergency services, and only when they believe that Medicare won’t pay for the service.
Always read an ABN carefully. An ABN explains that if you want the service, you will assume payment responsibility if Medicare doesn’t cover the transport. The ambulance company can ask you to pay at the time of the service. If you refuse to sign the ABN, the ambulance company can still transport you, but you may still be responsible for the service if Medicare doesn’t deem it medically necessary.
Limitations on Medicare’s Coverage
Nearest Facility
Medicare pays for medically necessary ambulance transports to the closest facility that can provide you with the level of care or services you require. If you want to be taken farther way, Medicare will only pay the mileage to the nearest appropriate facility. You will be responsible for the excess mileage costs.
Other Means of Transportation
Medicare can only pay for ambulance transports when it is proven that any other means of transportation would harm your health, even if other ways of transportation are not available.
Required Documentation
Written Doctor’s Order (Non-Emergency Services)
To establish medical necessity, Medicare requires ambulance suppliers to submit documentation that shows any other means of transportation would have harmed your health at the time of the service. For most non-emergency services, a written doctor’s order is required. Medicare regulations also state that the presence of a signed physician’s order does not, in and of itself, prove medical necessity. It’s the total picture the ambulance company paints of what happened during the transport and why their services were needed that allows Medicare to pay.
Your Signature (All Services)
In order to file the claim to Medicare, the ambulance company must obtain your signature (or that of an authorized representative). Your signature allows the ambulance company to accept Medicare assignment and also shows that you are allowing them to bill Medicare for the service. You do not have to provide your signature at the time of the transport, but you must do so within the claims filing time period (within 12 months of the date of the service).
If you or your representative refuses to sign, then the ambulance company can’t bill Medicare, and you will be responsible for the full amount of the transport. If you change your mind any time during the claims filing period, you can contact the ambulance company.
If you are unable to sign and an authorized representative can’t be found, then an ambulance employee present during the trip would need to provide a signed statement that includes:
* The date and time of the transport
* Why you were unable to sign
* An indication that no legally authorized person was available to sign on your behalf
* The name and location of the facility you were transported to
An employee from the receiving facility would also need to sign a statement that includes your name and the date and time you were brought there. If the ambulance company doesn’t obtain this information from the facility, with your permission, they can send Medicare a signed patient care report, your hospital registration or admission sheet or other hospital records that would support why you were not able to sign on your own.
What You Can Do If Medicare Doesn’t Pay
If Medicare denies your claim and you don’t agree, you can file an appeal. Your appeal rights are on the back of the Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) that is sent to you from Medicare.
There are five different levels in the appeals process. If you don’t agree with the first level of appeal, you can request the second level. If you still don’t agree, you can request the third level and then the fourth, and finally the fifth.
* 1st level – Redetermination – You need to file a redetermination within 120 days from the date of your MSN. To file an appeal, you can follow the instructions on your MSN by signing and returning it to our office at the following address:
Railroad Medicare – Palmetto GBA Attn: Redeterminations P. O. Box 10066 Augusta, GA 30999
* 2nd level – Reconsideration – This is the second level of appeals and is requested if don’t agree with the redetermination decision. You have to ask for a Reconsideration within 180 days from the date of your redetermination letter. The second level of appeals is handled by the Qualified Independent Contractor (QIC), which is separate from Palmetto GBA. Information about the QIC is included on your Redetermination decision letter from Railroad Medicare.
* 3rd level – Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) – If you don’t agree with the QIC’s decision, you can request a hearing by the ALJ. You have to file a request for an ALJ hearing within 60 days from the date of your reconsideration letter. The bill you are appealing must be more than $130.
* 4th level – Medicare Appeals Council – If you disagree with the ALJ’s decision, you have 60 days after you get your decision to ask for a review by the Medicare Appeals Council. * 5th level – Review by a Federal District Court– Follow the directions in the Medicare Appeals Council decision if you’d like to request a review by a Federal district court.
It is important to remember that the decision letter you receive at each level of appeal will explain additional appeal rights you may have. You should read these decision letters carefully.
If you have questions about a Railroad Medicare claim, you can call a toll-free customer service line at (800) 833-4455, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. For the hearing impaired, call TTY/TDD at (877) 566-3572. This line is for the hearing impaired with the appropriate dial-up service and is available during the same hours customer service representatives are available.
UTU-represented yardmasters employed by Canadian National Railway’s Illinois Central Railroad have ratified their first collective bargaining agreement.
The four-year agreement, reached following mediation assistance by the National Mediation Board, provides for hourly wage increases, coverage under the UTU National Health Care Plan, a signing bonus and wage parity for all yardmasters.
Negotiations were led by UTU International Vice President Paul Tibbit and UTU General Chairperson Doyle Turner (GO 347), who heads the UTU’s shortline outreach program.
Members of Local 1596 (Charlotte, N.C.) have finalized new contracts with Transit Management of Charlotte and First Transit of Concord/Kannapolis.
The three-year agreements provide for wage increases, improvements in pensions, an increase in the employer contribution to health care insurance, an additional number of personal leave days and better work rules.
Leading the negotiations with Transit Management of Charlotte were General Chairperson Alvy Hughes, Local Chairperson Craig Patch and Vice Local Chairperson Billy Belcher.
Leading the negotiations with First Transit of Concord/Kannapolis were General Chairperson Alvy Hughes, Local Chairperson Darryl Boykin, Vice Local Chairperson April Rogers, and Local Secretary Ben Blankey.
Hughes praised local officers on the negotiating committees for “expert preparation and tireless efforts to achieve the accomplishments in a difficult economic environment.”
Retired UTU General Chairperson Merlyn Hicks, 85, died Sept. 15 in Arkansas City, Kan.
A U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II, Hicks was employed by the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (now part of BNSF) for almost 30 years before his election as secretary to Santa Fe General Committee of Adjustment 009 (Kansas City). He was elected general chairperson in 1980 and retired in 1991. Hicks also served as a delegate, representing UTU Local 464 (Arkansas City).
Hicks was preceded in death by his wife, Charline, and is survived by two children and numerous grandchildren.
It is in off-the-cuff comments – rather than scripted press conferences, staged public speaking events or political advertisements on television – that often best reveal the “real” candidate and their thoughts.
In off-the-cuff comments by Mitt Romney, at a $50,000 per person fund raiser in Boca Raton, Fla., in May – when Romney didn’t realize a camera was rolling and microphone present – here is what he had to say, revealing the “real” candidate Mitt Romney:
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it … And the government should give it to them. They will vote for this president no matter what … These are people who pay no income tax.
“My job is not to worry about these people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
A Wisconsin county judge has invalidated the state legislature’s law curtailing collective bargaining rights for most public employees, but an appeal is expected to the state supreme court whose conservative majority may overturn the lower court ruling as it did in 2011 in the face of another successful lower court challenge.
Earlier this year, a federal court invalidated a provision of the law barring dues check-off and requiring annual representation elections. That ruling remains intact.
The controversial anti-union mandate, supported and signed into law by Wisconsin conservative Republican Gov. Scott Walker, drew massive public protests and resulted in a labor union-led drive to successfully unseat a number of conservative lawmakers who backed its passage. An attempt to recall the governor failed.
The UTU Collective Bargaining Fund and UTU members played a meaningful role in those recall elections.
The county judge overturning the law banning public-employee collective bargaining ruled it violates the state and U.S. constitutions’ rights of free speech, free association and equal representation under the law.
Union officials in Wisconsin say ultimate relief will be at the polls in November. If a labor-friendly majority controls the legislature, it is expected the anti-union law will be repealed and further assaults on labor unions will be ended.
In the wake of devastating Hurricane Isaac, which caused significant property damage and loss to scores of UTU members in its path along the Gulf Coast in August, the UTU is soliciting donations to assist those struggling brothers and sisters. To speed the collection and disbursement of donations, the UTU is using the same special bank account that was established to aid our brothers and sisters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Thus, checks to aide UTU brothers and sisters in need of assistance following Hurricane Isaac should be made out to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. Contributions should be sent to: Hurrican Katrina Relief Fund United Transportation Union Attn: Cheryl Sneed Suite 340 24950 Country Club Blvd. North Olmsted, OH 44070-5333
Former UTU International officers Daniel W. Collins and Paul J. McNamara have died. Collins Daniel W. Collins, age 90, who retired in 1992 as UTU assistant general secretary and treasurer, was a member of the 40-person committee that laid the groundwork for merger of the predecessor unions that formed the UTU in 1970. At the time he was general secretary and treasurer of the Switchmen’s Union of North America (SUNA), which came together in merger with the Order of Railway Conductors, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.
A native of Olean, N.Y., Collins hired on as a brakeman with former New York Central Railroad (now part of CSX). He left the railroad twice – to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II and again during the Korean conflict — and later earned a degree in economics from Canisius College. He was first elected to a SUNA office in 1948 and as SUNA GS&T in 1955, and held the position of UTU assistant GS&T until his retirement in 1992. During his UTU service, Collins was chairman of a joint labor management task force that sought to promote rail service in the face of trucking industry growth, and was appointed by former Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste to the Ohio High-Speed Rail Commission. He helped to establish the industry’s substance abuse prevention program and served on a labor-management advisory committee of the National Council of Alcoholism. He also helped to promote Operation Redblock on Amtrak. Following his retirement, Collins was appointed to the Amtrak Board of Directors by President Clinton. He also served as a consultant to Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, where he helped create a collection of railroad history and labor documents. Friends recall an oft-repeated comment by Collins: “Come down from the bleachers and get into the game!” Collins is survived by his wife of 69 years, Margaret, 10 children, 27 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. Paul J. McNamara Paul J. McNamara, age 97, and a native of Massachusetts, retired in 1980 as an International vice president. A 70-year UTU member, he completed the trade union program at Harvard University, and in 1975 earned the Cardinal Cushing Award for Excellence in Labor Management Relations. McNamara is survived by his wife of 72 years, Doris, two daughters, seven grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. He was a New York Central Railroad employee, where he elected a general chairperson. McNamara stayed current on UTU activities well into his 90s. New England States Legislative Director George Casey said McNamara attended his 2008 legislative department reorganization meeting. In 2004, McNamara attended the UTU regional meeting in Boston where he engaged former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in a lively chat. The family asks that donations be made in Paul J. McNamara’s name to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (26 Broadway, 14th Floor, N.Y., N.Y. 10004); or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (http://pages.lightthenight.org/wpa/Pttsbrgh12/tmooney)
MILLINGTON, Tenn. – A UTU-represented trainman employed by Canadian National Railway subsidiary Illinois Central was seriously injured here early Sept. 5 when reportedly struck by a passing train on a mainline while performing duties on an adjacent track. Millington is a suburb north of Memphis.
Shawn D. Hall, 34, married with four children, reportedly lost one foot as well as suffering broken arms, ribs and internal injuries in the accident. Hall, a member of UTU Local 753 in Memphis, has eight years of service. He is being treated at Regional Medical Center in Memphis where he was said to be in stable condition Sept. 6.
Ambulances transport critically ill or injured passengers to hospitals every day. They also take patients with non-emergency conditions to hospitals, critical access hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes and other medical facilities to treat serious health conditions. 