NARFE - West Virginia Federation
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WV Federation Newsletter May 2021

NARFE West Virginia Federation Newsletter
May 2021


William “Bill” Shackleford
Region X Vice President

I would like to express my sincere thanks for 6 1/2 years of support. It has been my honor to serve NARFE members from Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. I am pleased to give you this report of our activities in the past year, and what a year it has been. If NARFE is going to attract more active Federal employees into the organization, a change in the way we do business is vital.

It was fitting that we positioned ourselves as “the federal benefits experts” with our brand launch in 2019, because never was this expertise needed as it was in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is critical that NARFE enter its second century strong, relevant, and firmly established as the go-to resource for our members and prospective members, the federal community, policymakers, the media, and the public.

NARFE has been going through an unprecedented period of change. Our organization is evolving to answer the needs and desires of future Federal employees and retirees. Despite all the challenges we encountered in the past year, NARFE leaders, NARFE members, NARFE staff all found ways to keep the organization up and running thanks to technology that allowed us to deliver on our commitment. NARFE continued to provide its valuable guidance, timely resources, and powerful advocacy throughout the pandemic, with specialized webinars, magazine articles and other resources that helped us navigate the impact of COVID-19 on our lives.

Those resources are easier to find now. I hope you have had a chance to check out NARFE’s new website. New Federation and Chapter website templates will be available soon. While the current Region X Federation websites are excellent, the templates may provide useful components, thereby allowing some benefits from an integrated search that will aid you to find what you need on either website through optimization for smart phone, tablets, & computers, putting all that NARFE know-how at your fingertips wherever you are. Between the website, the magazine, and newsletters coming out of National Headquarters, it is easy to keep up with your NARFE member benefits, legislative developments, and common questions about your federal benefits.

The first sentence of NARFE’s mission statement is “To support legislation beneficial to current and potential federal annuitants and to oppose legislation contrary to their interests.” When it comes right down to it, NARFE’s brand stands upon two robust pillars – the Federal Benefits Institute and NARFE advocacy.

The Federal Benefits Institute is growing. NARFE Headquarters has discovered that the Institute is well positioned to become the pre-eminent resource regarding federal benefits information. More than questions and answers, it increasingly is the one-stop shop for all things federal benefits for the federal community. We have invested in experts with national name recognition among the federal community. Stronger relationships with our experts, who include Tammy Flanagan and Mark Keen, mean more value for your membership. The knowledge that an answer is just an e-mail or phone call away is priceless. NARFE webinars are offered more frequently on topics that are in high demand. These webinars provide valuable information that helps you save money, time, and worry. NARFE offers up to 18 webinar programs a year, produced by Institute experts and our communications team.

On the advocacy side, NARFE continues to be a most respected voice on Capitol Hill. In 2021, we are building strong relationships with the new Administration and Congress. We have a rich opportunity to enhance NARFE’s influence, advance our legislative goals and expand recognition of NARFE as a valuable source for federal benefits expertise. NARFE’s advocacy team provides Congress with the tactical information that they need to make the best decisions on legislation that affects the federal community. NARFE’s significant influence has kept recent budgets from taking funds out of Feds’ pockets, created a paid federal leave program, pushed for movement on stalled bills affecting the WEP, and more. And its grassroots mobilization has allowed thousands of NARFE members to tell their stories to legislators and make their voices heard.

NARFE successfully defeated proposals to cut benefits to federal retirees and prevented the effort to reorganize the Office of Personnel Management in such a way that would have exposed it to political influence. For federal employees, NARFE helped ensure pay raises in consecutive years, helped secure paid parental leave, and helped pass the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which guarantees back pay for furloughed federal employees during shutdown events. NARFE also helped get legislation through related to pandemic relief, including the suspension of required minimum distributions on retirement accounts and emergency funding for the postal service.

Many of you answered the call to help NARFE get this legislation through. Everyone is grateful to all our grassroots advocates for the stories brought forward on how these issues affect you personally. It makes a real difference in helping convince lawmakers to cosponsor critical legislation that will make a difference in your life. More than 50,000 letters were sent to legislators through the online Legislative Action Center in 2020, and more than 20,000 phone calls were connected via NARFE. This does not even take into consideration the number of ZOOM meetings that were held with your Representatives and Senators or the letters you wrote to local news editors. Keep up the great work.

We made it through a NARFE election, a National election, and a transition to a new administration and—here we are, ready to focus on the 117th Congress. We will continue to advocate for: a federal pay increase in 2021 and beyond; modifying postal reform proposals to preserve health care choices for postal retirees; enacting full COLAs for FERS retirees; supporting current efforts to reform the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP); ensuring adequate oversight of proposals to reorganize the Federal government; and providing substantive feedback on efforts to modernize the civil service.

I can assure you that NARFE will do everything in its power to move the needle on the many legislative issues that have stagnated for so long. And should federal benefits wind up (as they often do) under the lens of scrutiny for potential cuts, NARFE will be there to protect them.

For the full Region X Spring 2021 Report Click here.


Barbara Kuennecke
WV Federation President

Happy May to everyone and a huge thank you to all who participated in our annual meeting via Zoom on the 19th.

During the meeting, Donna Shackelford mentioned that the WV Federation was in 5th place for most money raised for NARFE Alzheimer's research from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 and in 1st place per capita. And with exquisite timing, a package from Olivia Williams, the national Alzheimer's Committee chair, containing the certificates arrived in my mailbox on the 20th!

Next year we will host the convention in District 1. I am keeping my fingers crossed that no new health issues will arise to keep us from having it in person. More to follow on the convention and planning during the coming months.

Postal Reform is still on the table. Even if you have called or written to your representative and both senators before, please do so again. The USPS Fairness Act (HR 695/S 145), if passed, would repeal the prefunding requirement for health care. The act is in Committee in both the House and Senate, so now is an opportune time to write or call.

Another action on the table is the Social Security Fairness Act (HR 82) designed to repeal both the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

Enjoy the rest of spring and early summer!


Robert Hardesty
1st Vice President
Membership

After more than 14 months of frustration, fear, and anxiety, it appears that this coronavirus situation may be under control. Governor Justice has pledged that virtually everything in West Virginia may be open by June 20, West Virginia Day. I know that a few chapters have begun to meet under controlled circumstances. My own chapter here in Charleston is still awaiting permission to resume our meetings at our local library. Nevertheless, it looks like there may be some type of normalcy soon.

For those chapters, like mine, which have been unable to meet, NOW is the time to start preparations for this “new normal”. The very first thing chapter members should do is to think about what will be needed to start up again, what you might call your “game plan”. Does your chapter have current officers ready to resume duties? Will you have a place to meet? Is now the time to change things around—-i.e., should you consider a luncheon meeting vs. a formal meeting, or vice -versa? Prior to March 2020 these things would not have had as much potential impact as they do now, nor would they have presented such opportunities.

Once you have your game plan in place, think about how you can use this new beginning to enhance your membership. As most of you know, NARFE celebrated its 100th anniversary (I know, “celebrate” is a strange term under the current situation), and the NARFE website is loaded with things to consider in honor of this occasion. Those of you who have registered for LEGcon 21, scheduled for June21-23, will have the opportunity to learn more about NARFE’s history and future goals, which can be used as a recruitment tool. Think about the possibility of either live streaming a part of these presentations or using a portion of them from the NARFE webinar archives at a later meeting time. Updated information is appearing almost daily at NARFE.org, so check out this resource.

We have truly gone through a “lemon” of a year; let’s try to squeeze some fresh lemonade out of our tribulations and frustrations!


Steve Sosson
2nd Vice President
Legislation

Make your voices heard!

Support H.R. 82 which would remove the Government Pension Offset (GPO) Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP); H.Res. 131/S.Res. 76 which commemorates NARFE’s 100th Anniversary; and H.R. 695/S. 145, the USPS Fairness Act which will help restore the USPS’s finances by removing the requirement to prefund retiree health care costs 75 years into the future.

Please do what you can to help support NARFE-PAC. They are our eyes and ears on Capitol Hill and have been highly successful in protecting unfair and adverse actions to our retirement benefits.

Please let our elected representatives in Congress know of our concern over H.R. 3076 which would take the Postal Service out of the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) and create a Postal Service Health Benefits Plan. By significantly reducing the size of FEHBP membership, this could cause a significant increase in premiums as costs would be spread over far fewer people.

The Legislative Conference (LEGcon21) is coming up soon and chapters are urged to have attendance at this important biannual gathering (by Zoom this year, alas). Also, the Region 10 Conference is coming up in September in Frankfort, KY and the hope is that this will be in-person.

There are 38,337 Federal employees and annuitants in WV. Of the annuitants, 5,693 are in WV-01; 8,651 are in WV-02; and 4,612 are in WV-03. We need every one of them to speak up and be heard. Talk to your fellow retirees and any active employees you know to weigh in on the issues – whether or not they are members of NARFE.


Bill O’Field
Senatorial Leader

I stand with NARFE in support of statehood for the District of Columbia, because it is an offense to the basic principles upon which the nation was founded for it not to be a state.

There are hundreds of thousands of active and retired federal employees who reside in the District of Columbia and are denied their basic right to self-governance and democratic representation.

S. 51, the “Washington D.C. Admission Act”, provides for the admission of the State of Washington, D.C. into the Union and would correct such discrimination.

According to NARFE’s Issue Brief on the bill, American citizens living in the District of Columbia, including federal employees and annuitants, have not had the right to self-government enjoyed by those living in the 50 states for the past 220 years.

Statehood requires only a simple majority vote in each Chamber of Congress and the president’s signature. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 51., the “Washington D.C. Admission Act”, on April 22, 2021. It is now up to the Senate to also do the right thing.

District of Columbia residents do not have voting representation in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. Yet, Congress maintains the power to amend or deny funding (paid by local taxes) or even to overturn laws passed by the local elected government of Washington, D.C., which has happened in the past.

The Office of Personnel Management reports that there are 141,955 active federal employees working in the District of Columbia, many of whom live there, and 43,819 District of Columbia residents are federal annuitants. Another 6,134 postal employees work in the District of Columbia, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission.

On a personal note, I was one of those federal employees, and later an annuitant, who resided and worked in the District of Columbia for 38 years. The larger portion of those years was as a federal employee in civil service.

I experienced what it was like to not have a representative in Congress that I could go to for assistance or to ask for their support for legislation that effects the everyday lives of American citizens. All along I paid my federal taxes while working with several organizations to make the District of Columbia a state to no avail.

In 2015, I moved back to my home state of West Virginia in my full retirement and deeply appreciate having representation in Congress as residents in all the other 49 states. The residents of the District of Columbia deserve the same.

Two hundred and twenty years is far too long for any Americans to wait for the full benefits of citizenship. For District of Columbia residents, the wait should have been over a long time ago.

I ask you to stand with NARFE on S. 51 and contact Senators Manchin and Capito and encourage them to sign onto the bill as co-sponsors and to vote in support of it. Tell them they can help correct this situation that leaves some Americans including active and federal annuitants without the right to self-government.


Robert Hardesty
Congressional Leader

I met with Ms. Susie Azevedo, District Representative for Representative Alex Mooney, in her office in Charleston on April 15, 2021. In addition to discussing general items like the cost-of-living increases and the need to protect our health insurance benefits, I reviewed each of the items listed in the NARFE Bill Tracker in the April issue of the NARFE magazine.

Every issue listed were items supported by NARFE, and most items had bi-partisan support in the House. I pointed out that, in spite of this support from both sides of the aisle, Rep. Mooney was not listed as a co-sponsor on a single item. Ms. Azevedo could not explain this but did promise to raise the issue with her Washington, D.C. office.

On another item, many of us have been frustrated by responses from Rep. Mooney’s office to concerns that have been raised either by e-mail or by letter. The responses received almost never indicate a position from Rep. Mooney on the issue at hand. Moreover, many of us have received the EXACT SAME LETTER, down to the punctuation, as a response to more than one request. I asked Ms. Azevedo to explain this, showing her the letters from Rep. Mooney, and asking her to tell me what issue was receiving a response. She could not. I also pointed out that there was no way that anyone, including Rep. Mooney’s own staff, could determine who was responsible for such ineffective correspondence. She promised to address this issue with the Washington staff.

At about the same time I sent material raising similar concerns to Ms. Teri Booth, Director of Constituent Services in the Huntington office of Rep. Carol Miller. I did this because the Huntington office is not permitting in-person visitation by the public. The intent of the action was to discuss those items after Ms. Booth had an opportunity to review them. This did not work very well, so my intention is to contact their constituent office in Beckley so that I can have an in-person meeting there.

I plan to visit the Morgantown office of Rep. David McKinley next month.


Betty Jo Monday
WV Federation Treasurer

May 31, 2020-April 30, 2021

Checking Balance May 31, 2020 $ 12,550.59

Receipts:
Dividends $ 8.90
Dues $ 4003.00
Ref 2020 Conf $ 1000.00
Parkersburg Closing $ 2620.17
Voided Ch 1061 $ 5.00
VA Chapter Closing $ 20.16
Per Capita $ 1,566.00

Total income through April 30, 2021 $ 9,223.23

Disbursements:
ZOOM Pro Annual $ 317.79
FedCon2020 Reg $ 99.00
Parkersburg Closing$ 655.02
Postage $ 22.00
Reorder Checks $ 17.42

Total disbursements through April 30, 2021 $ 1111.23

Checking Closing Balance April 30, 2021 $ 20662.59


Savings Closing Balance April 30, 2021 $ 10.03
No activity during this period

Total Balance on Hand as of April 30, 2021 Checking & Savings $ 20,672.62


John Sheely
Service Officer

In our Chapter Zoom meeting in February 2021, the subject of mail order prescriptions emerged due to several people, myself included, not receiving mail order prescriptions timely. Also, it was discovered the process for getting a partial prescription to cover the time span until the missing mail order was delivered, was not simple. Though the process for obtaining a partial refill is important to know and understand, mail orders have mostly gone back to normal. So, I am going to cover prescription co-pays.

I had been told a while back that it could be less expensive to acquire mail order prescriptions at a local pharmacy. So, while I was discussing with CVS/Caremark my missing prescriptions and how to get an interim supply, I also directly ask the question, “is it sometimes cheaper to purchase a particular medicine at a local pharmacy?” The answer was “yes”. At this point I can only speak to BCBS – CVS/Caremark but, I suspect if you have other federal health insurance with mail order prescriptions it could be the same.

I use eight different medicines, six are taken daily and I order 90-day supplies. The other two I take as needed and both of those are 30-day refills. Six of the eight were cheaper or the exact same cost using a local pharmacy and my CVS/Caremark discount, the other two were cheaper through CVS/Caremark mail order.

Though, using your federal prescription discount will usually get you the best price, that is not always the case. You should try GoodRx.com and SingleCare.com two of the most popular websites for purchasing drugs from local pharmacies. These can be accessed through your smart phone or computers. You simply plug in the name of the medicine and the number of days needed with your ZIP code and both will print out local pharmacies and what that drug will cost from each. I was able to get a one-time specialty drug prescription cheaper through GoodRx.com ($20 out-of-pocket) compared to the CVS/Caremark discount ($300 out-of-pocket).

I have mentioned this in a past Service Officer Report, but a reminder does not hurt. BCBS FEHBP has a Medicare Reimbursement Program. This program is only for BCBS “Basic” plan participants who are covered by Medicare Part A and B. BCBS “Standard” plan participants even if covered by Medicare Part A and B, are NOT eligible for the Medicare Reimbursement.

Other FEHB plans may have some kind of Medicare reimbursement but NARFE members will need to check their health plan brochures for that information or contact your representative. I do not know what other FEHB plans offer.

BCBS will reimburse up to $800 if you meet the requirements for 2021. And, if you met the requirements in 2020 but did not file a claim form you still have until 12/31/21 to file that claim as well. The reimbursement for a married couple, if both meet, the requirements can be up to $1600.

I usually wait until June to file each year and have the full $800 deposited into my checking account. You can file as early as January of each year but BCBS will only reimburse the actual amount you have paid into Medicare on a month-by-month basis. This means most people will be reimbursed $148.50 each month January through May with a final reimbursement of $57.50 in June.

To file for reimbursement go to www.fepblue.org and log-in. Scroll about halfway down the next page that appears and click on “Get Started” in the box titled “Get Medicare Money Back”. This will take you to the page where you can file a claim for both 2020 and 2021 but, each year requires a separate claim form.

Chapter Service officers, if you want to research other plans to determine if they have any kind of Medicare reimbursement go to opm.gov, click on “insurance”, then scroll down and click on “FEHB Plan Comparison Tool”. You can pull up the various FEHBP brochures with the comparison tool.

As in the past, feel free to copy this report and pass it on to your members any way you want. And, if I can be of help contact me at wvskibum@aol.com and be sure to put “NARFE Question” in the subject line.


Jeffrey Merz
WV Federation Alzheimer’s Chair

A pleasant surprise! Our Federation has received two awards for last fiscal year: Fifth place for highest amount raised ($12,812) and FIRST place for per capita dues high amount ($21.07).

Before we pat ourselves on the back too hard, $10,000 of that amount was a bequest, so the rest of us contributed $2,812 – still pretty darn good!

So far this year we have raised $945.00. Good, but we only have until June 30th which is the end of this fiscal year. Our donations do so much good to find the cause and solution for Alzheimer’s Disease.

It is time now to begin your plans for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s Disease. The funds collected from this event will stay in the local area where it is collected to help support the patients and especially the caregivers in that area. It is important that the public is aware of the good deed that NARFE does to facilitate the event. Even though with the COVID-19 situation, people may not want to walk, they can still support the donations.

Please consider a donation now, either through your chapter or directly to me – Jeff Merz, 365 Galilee Road, Bruceton Mills, WV 26525. Make the check payable to NARFE Alzheimer’s Research and I will get it to headquarters ASAP for our credit.

13032

 
Alzheimer's Certificate

 

 

 

District I

Morgan County Chapter 2263 did not meet during the pandemic; they returned to in-person meetings in May.

Eastern Panhandle (Berkeley and Jefferson Counties) Chapter 1236 began meeting virtually in September 2020. They met without a speaker for the first few months to get the hang of the technology. Since then, speakers have included representatives from the Martinsburg Rescue Mission, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Martinsburg/Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce, and a representative from Governor Justice’s Office. They hope to begin in-person meetings in August with their annual picnic and “white elephant” auction for Alzheimer’s.


Jeffrey Merz and David Nicholson
District II Co-Vice Presidents

Chapter 1023, Fairmont has not been met due to the pandemic.

Chapter 1579, Central WV (Clarksburg), has held virtual meetings on Zoom since December 2020 and Clarksburg Mayor Ryan Kennedy was the guest speaker at the May 11 meeting at which he discussed the ballot measures to be voted by Clarksburg voters at the June 1, 2021 General Election. The chapter is scheduled to begin holding in person meetings starting with June 8 followed by a picnic at Veterans Park on July 13.

Chapter 1614 Mountaineer (Morgantown) has been meeting in person since January at Shoney’s restaurant.

Chapter 2287, Tygart Valley (Elkins), has not held a meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Officers have kept in contact and taken care of chapter business, including submitting reports to NARFE headquarters.


Shirley Miller
District III Co-Vice President

Chapter 0950, Beckley is the only chapter in District III that has been having meetings. The meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Lion’s Club building in Beaver, WV, which is a temporary location. There are usually six or seven members attending the meetings who bring their own lunches for the meetings.