How does the SIU pension work? How much time do you need to put in and how much do you end up getting? Do you get lifetime medical also? And same questions for the MMP and MEBA pensions
[QUOTE=NYBoatman;88870]How does the SIU pension work? How much time do you need to put in and how much do you end up getting? Do you get lifetime medical also? And same questions for the MMP and MEBA pensions[/QUOTE]
The SIU Inland contracts (ATBs, seagoing tugs, harbor tugs, dredges) vary with the company. Some get single day pension credits, some double. Thats negotiated in the contract. Normal pension I think is 5780 days @ 62. You can take early normal pension if you acumulate 7300 @ 55. Pension is calculated on 40% of your best 5 years average in your last 10. You get 2% raise for each year you have over 7300. I worked for 2 SIU contracted companies for 24 years. We negotiated the highest wages and overtime (before the oilfield went apeshit) Plan G medical, transportation, 2 for 1 pension credits.
There’s a couple of different medical plans depending on the company and contract. The plans are very good but the dental sucks as do most dental plans. The premiums are paid 100% by the company.
In retirement, the only difference in benefits from Plan G (best coverage) is my wife lost scripts benefit. Your premium is $100 a month per member and dependent.
I forgot to add that the SIU has a Money Purchace Pension Plan that the company puts in a percentage of your daily base pay in a tax defered account. (mine averaged 12% return) Also, after I retired they implemented a 401K but we were told by law that the company could not contribute to the 401K if they were contributing to a traditional pension.
The medical plan with the SIU was decent but missing a crucial piece to really be considered insurance. It did not have a yearly out of pocket maximum. Everything was 80/20 whether it was a $100 or $100,000 medical bill. So if life was not so kind to you or yours, you could be on the hook for either a $20 or $20,000 co insurance using the above figures. Whereas real insurance has that out of pocket maximum which obviously varies plan to plan but is typically in the neighborhood of $2000-$4000, so you would be on the hook for the deductible and the out of pocket maximum, then everything is covered 100%. That was at the highest (Core Plus) benefit level. In my option the employees were not seeing the appropriate level of benefits for how much the company paid in to it.
[QUOTE=dredgeboater;88878]The medical plan with the SIU was decent but missing a crucial piece to really be considered insurance. It did not have a yearly out of pocket maximum. Everything was 80/20 whether it was a $100 or $100,000 medical bill. So if life was not so kind to you or yours, you could be on the hook for either a $20 or $20,000 co insurance using the above figures. Whereas real insurance has that out of pocket maximum which obviously varies plan to plan but is typically in the neighborhood of $2000-$4000, so you would be on the hook for the deductible and the out of pocket maximum, then everything is covered 100%. That was at the highest (Core Plus) benefit level. In my option the employees were not seeing the appropriate level of benefits for how much the company paid in to it.[/QUOTE]
At one time, the SIU insurance was the best. It then morphed into a HMO. It’s still been a very good plan. There were some bumps in the road as they change to core plus but I had very good service.
It’s PPO and like I said the plan wasn’t horrible but just missing a real crucial piece in my mind. It’s a great discount plan, just not true insurance because of what it’s missing.
[QUOTE=dredgeboater;88883]It’s PPO and like I said the plan wasn’t horrible but just missing a real crucial piece in my mind. It’s a great discount plan, just not true insurance because of what it’s missing.[/QUOTE]
With my insurance it’s called a “catastrophic cap”, and it’s $3000 per year per family.
That’s a new but accurate description to me.