Alcatel/Lucent Creditable Coverage Disclosure Notice

The C&T office has received a number of calls regarding a letter received by Lucent Medicare-eligible Retirees and/or their dependents, attempting to convince Participants to drop their Company-provided prescription drug coverage in favor of a Medi-D prescription drug plan.  A copy of the document was faxed to our office and an explanation of the letter follows:

A Creditable Coverage Disclosure Notice was recently mailed to all Medicare-eligible Lucent Retirees and/or their dependents. The disclosure notice advises participants that the Prescription Drug Plan coverage, provided by Alcatel/Lucent, is "at least as good as the standard Medicare prescription drug coverage."  In addition, the disclosure notice explains that Participants will lose their Company-provided coverage if they choose to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan.  A Creditable Coverage Disclosure Notice must be mailed to Medicare-eligible participants every year.

Unfortunately, the Joint Healthcare Committee (JHCC) wasn't notified in advance of the mailing. If advance notice had been received, an alert would have been posted on the C&T website and Local Presidents would have been notified before Retirees received the disclosure notice.  I have notified the Company that CWA expects the JHCC to be notified in advance of this mailing in the future.

If you have additional questions/concerns, please don't hesitate to call me on (202) 434-1291 or send an e-mail to mflagge@cwa-union.org.

In Unity,

Martha Flagge
CWA Representative

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