Conservative Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are committed to repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Conservative Republicans also are committed to privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare into a voucher program with more costs coming out of retirees’ pockets. By contrast, President Obama is committed to preserving Social Security and Medicare as we know it.
When it comes to collective bargaining rights, conservative Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have publicly congratulated the conservative Republican governors of Wisconsin and Ohio who pushed to curtail and eliminate those rights – especially for public employees. Contrast that attack on collective bargaining rights with the Democratic Party platform position, which is also the Obama/Biden position:
“Democrats believe that the right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value; every American should have a voice on the job and a chance to negotiate for a fair day’s pay after a hard day’s work. We will continue to fight for the right of all workers to organize and join a union.”
We in the transit industry have held our own in these difficult economic times because the Obama administration and our labor-friendly allies in Congress – labor-friendly Republicans as well as Democrats — fought to preserve transit funding. We know what would happen to transit funding if conservative Republicans control the White House and Congress, as they have made clear they would reduce transit funding.
Had conservative Republicans been the majority in the Senate as well as the House, many of our bus operations would have been privatized, our collective bargaining rights would have been curtailed, and our wages, benefits and work rules would be in jeopardy.
All brothers and sisters in organized labor face attack by conservative Republicans. On Election Day, we must take the time and effort to cast our ballots – and encourage others to cast their ballots – to return President Obama and Vice President Biden to the White House and cast ballots for the labor-friendly candidates. A listing of labor friendly candidates is provided by clicking the following link and scrolling down to “Congressional endorsements”:
This election is about saving our middle class. Let us stand strong against those corporate-backed candidates who want to destroy labor unions and curtail worker collective bargaining rights. Our job security, pay checks, health care and retirement are at stake.
Eligible railroad employees and/or dependents can now complete their annual re-enrollment online at the Railroad Information Depot website.
The website also contains information about the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) now available for employees of participating railroads.
Employees covered under the NRC/UTU Health and Welfare Plan and the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan have received information in the mail recently announcing the open enrollment and have been provided the log-in code necessary to view the online information.
Go to www.rrinfodepot.com and scroll to the bottom left corner for the link to enter the enrollment page.
Note that this enrollment is only for those employees covered under the NRC/UTU Health and Welfare Plan and the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan.
You can’t vote often on Election Day, Nov. 6, but you can vote early.
Most states permit early voting by those who may not be near their voting location on Election Day.
For UTU members who work unconventional hours and are frequently at away-from-home terminals, early voting assures you will be able cast a ballot.
Early voting is different than casting an absentee ballot.
To determine if your state permits early voting, and to view the instructions and dates for casting an early ballot, click on the following link and scroll down to your state:
There is also time, in most states, for requesting an absentee ballot. For more information on obtaining an absentee ballot, click on the following link and then click on your state:
This may be the most important election in the careers of transportation workers and their families. Don’t allow others to determine your future.
Also, if you are voting absentee by mail, note that your ballot might need extra postage.
Many absentee ballots for the Nov. 4 presidential election are so long and weigh so much that mailing them back to elections supervisors requires extra postage, in many cases.
The U.S. Postal Service generally returns mail with insufficient postage to the sender, but that can take days.
Mailing costs vary, depending on everything from the size of the envelope to the weight of the paper. Check with your local postal authorities for proper postage.
The airline industry is in a sorry state of affairs. From the bungled merger of U.S. Airways with America West in 2006 to the recent efforts of American Airlines to use the bankruptcy process to cancel its union contracts, the industry is attempting to return to profitability at the expense of its employees.
The take-it-or-leave-it negotiating tactics that result from bankruptcies and mergers are all too common in today’s airline industry.
Throughout the turmoil, the employees of the nation’s airlines continue to show up for work and staff more than 25,000 flights every day. UTU members who fly for Great Lakes Airlines are no exception – at least for the time being. Local 40 flight attendants were at the bargaining table with Great Lakes management for 10 years; and Local 40 pilots have been facing a negotiating stone wall for three years.
Following years of fruitless negotiations, and under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, the UTU asked the National Mediation Board to declare an impasse in talks and proffer binding arbitration. “As the NMB mediator has observed, Great Lakes management is not bargaining in good faith and has declined even to consider UTU contract changes,” said UTU Assistant President John Previsich, who is assisting in negotiations.
Local 40 pilots continue to await a decision from the NMB. If the NMB does make that proffer, and Great Lakes rejects it, the clock will start a 90-day countdown to either a negotiated settlement, presidential emergency board recommendations for settlement or a work stoppage if a settlement cannot be reached before the 90-day clock expires.
“Self-help is not UTU’s desired outcome for this process, as it would have a significant negative impact on our members and the public,” Previsich said. “The UTU’s desire is that the parties reach a mutually satisfactory agreement and avoid any interruption in service as Great Lakes is the lone airline serving many small cities and towns.
“The fact remains that our pilots’ working conditions and wages at Great Lakes are substandard, putting daily pressure on those pilots whose highest priority is to fly passengers safely,” Previsich said. “Great Lakes pilots, with extensive training and experience, are among the lowest paid of any scheduled passenger airline in the United States, with some paid less than entry-level retail and food service jobs.”
While the consequences of a work stoppage can be severe for both the company and its employees, the pilot group on Great Lakes stands united, awaiting action from the NMB.
In the words of a member of the negotiating team: “The airline refuses to pay a living wage while reaping millions in profit every year. The pilots are tired of it and we will do whatever it takes to improve the conditions for our members.”
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.”
Conservative Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are committed to repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Eligible railroad employees and/or dependents can now complete their annual re-enrollment online at the Railroad Information Depot website.
You can’t vote often on Election Day, Nov. 6, but you can vote early.
The airline industry is in a sorry state of affairs. From the bungled merger of U.S. Airways with America West in 2006 to the recent efforts of American Airlines to use the bankruptcy process to cancel its union contracts, the industry is attempting to return to profitability at the expense of its employees.