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Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 1 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
“To preserve and protect the pension and benefits that we earned.” — AUSWR Mission
Regional AUSWR Disbands in 2013 —State Organizations Plan the Future
Message From AUSWR President
3—Attorney Curtis Kennedy reflect on his 29-year relationship with retirees
4—Retiree Advocates and CO/WY Presidents’ Message
5—CenturyLink disperses ERRP funds
6—Colorado Medicare 101 Classes
7—Colorado Membership Form—Outstate Area Reps
8—Colorado Area Reps
INSIDE
To all of my fellow retirees:
Some Retiree Association members are aware that I have announced my intention to retire from the AUSWR President’s office at the end of 2013. For others this may be new news. I first became involved with the retirees in 1996 in Colorado, shortly after the inception of the Colorado Retiree group, then known as CORE. I be-came a regional officer of AUSWR in 2000, Vice President in 2005, and the Re-gional AUSWR President in 2009. Now, after 17 years, it is time for me to go and fully live my retirement from U S WEST. Over the years, we have accomplished much. Through our wonderful attorney, Curtis Kennedy, we have litigated benefits in retirement issues through the courts, and have won some and lost some. There are no more is-sues to be litigated. We have over the years, dialogued with the officer group of U S WEST, Qwest and Century Link asking them to keep the promises made to retirees
concerning their benefits. These discussions have sometimes been contentious, but recently with Centu-ry Link have had a much more civil tone. For Post-1990 retirees, the current bottom line is that other than our earned pensions, none of our benefits, at least for the management retirees, are protected by law. For the Post-1990 bargained-for retirees, their benefits are subject to collective bargaining. Our Pre-1991 retirees are among the se-lect few who will forever enjoy the lifetime health benefits won for them through AUSWR, and their pensions are secure. (...continued on the next page…)
Mimi Hull AUSWR President
2013 Issue 1
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 2 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
(AUSWR President’s Message ...continued from page one) New retirees are very clear about the benefits that they have in retirement, and have no negotia-ble items to monitor or protect through our organization, so we see no opportunity for growth. Over a year ago, the AUSWR Regional Board began a discussion about the future of our organization.
After noting our accomplishments and disappointments since the inception of AUSWR, we reviewed our mis-
sion, “to preserve and protect the benefits that we earned”. We have determined that any further relief from
the loss of benefits for retirees must come through Federal legislative action.
Having recognized the importance of this years ago, AUSWR was a founding member of the National
Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN), who work tirelessly to get Congress to understand the plight of today’s
corporate retirees and the loss of benefits that they earned when they were active employees, and we have con-
tinuously been supportive of their efforts.
Our membership numbers are in steep decline, and it is becoming more difficult to recruit volunteers to
fill officer positions on all of the State organization Boards and the Regional Board. In Curtis Kennedy’s
words, we are declaring “Mission Accomplished”. We have done all that we can do to fulfill our mission. The
Board has therefore voted to dissolve the Regional AUSWR as of 12-31-2013.
However, as a reminder, the Regional AUSWR is made up of six state (or multi-state) organizations.
Each state organization will or has undertaken a process to determine their viability beyond 2013. Arizona has
already announced the dissolution of the TRA-AZ mid year. The other state organizations are reviewing their
options, and will announce their plans upon the conclusion of their discussions.
We owe much to the Retiree Advocates who have given long and dedicated service to assisting retirees
in resolving benefit issues with the Service Center or with Century Link or its predecessor companies. Fortu-
nately for us, the Retiree Advocates have expressed a desire to continue on as long as they are able to assist
retirees with resolution of any benefit issues.
The many people that I want to thank for their dedication to the retiree organization are too numerous
to name in this newsletter, with two notable exceptions: Curtis Kennedy and Nelson Phelps. Both of these
dedicated individuals will always hold a special place for their unwavering dedication and leadership. All of
us should be forever grateful to them.
As to the rest of the leaders and volunteers who have given unselfishly of their time and talent through-
out the existence of our Association, my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you.
___Mimi
REGIONAL AUSWR The Regional AUSWR Board of Directors and the 14-state affiliation
plans to disband at the end of 2013. State organizations are independent and each state will determine its future operations plan.
OREGON- UTAH-IDAHO
COLORADO-WYOMING NEW MEXICO NORTHWESTERN WASHINGTON -MONTANA
ARIZONA Operations will Operations will Operations will Operations will Operations will
Board of Directors continue thru 2013; continue thru 2013; continue thru 2013; continue thru 2013; continue thru 2013;
voted to dissolve annual meeting Board meeting Feb. 15 annual meeting plans to disband plans to disband
in June 2013 in October to determine beyond 2013 in June at end of 2013 at end of 2013
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 3 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
By Kitty Kennedy, Retiree Guardian Regional Editor
Humor and sentiment filled the room as a list of accomplishments to protect pensions and benefits, especially health care, was read to a Phoenix au-dience on January 12 to introduce the guest speaker, leading him to start by saying, “I am Curtis Kennedy, and I approve of this message.” “It is not what I have done... I appreci-ate what you let me do… you let me live the American dream,” Curtis said as he reflected on his 29-year career representing telephone company workers.
Curtis told that his memories of retirees started as a young boy living in an orphanage when he met the maintenance man who had retired from the Stu-debaker company and had lost his pension when Stu-debaker went into bankruptcy. The federal law, known as ERISA, that today protects pensions came about be-cause of Studebaker.
After he finished law school (second in his class) and worked for a petroleum company, he was given what was clearly a case of age discrimination against a geologist.
“I didn’t even own a typewriter,” Curtis related as he told how he quit the petroleum company and decided to go out on his own. He listed with the Denver Bar Association agreeing to do consultations for $25, when his first Moun-tain Bell case came in…and so began his long history with telephone company people.
Speaking about the changed corporate environment, Cur-tis described the executives of the “bell-shaped head” era as honorable people. He told of “skirmishes” at divesti-ture, but those negotiations remained pleasant.
Then he said the Nacchio times became “a nightmare raiding pension funds.” Joe Nacchio is still in jail, but scheduled to be released in September 2013. Curtis told the history of AT&T and the Bell System ethics
that until 1984 pledged to “prosper and serve well as we always have, not at the expense of employees, shareholders or customers.”
He drew the parallels between Qwest leaders and the “nasty age of American corporate greed that took over.” He de-scribed how today is about the people at the top and the corporate boards they sit on awarding one another.
“Salaries were about 30 to 1 in the Moun-tain Bell Timothy time,” (referring to Bob Timothy who was president of Mountain Bell at divestiture in January 1984). Now top executives earn 450 or 500 times more today than the average worker –”it is out of control,” he said. [CNN Money
reported that among the top corporate CEOs their aver-age pay was $12.9 million in 2011].
Starting in 1989 companies began to add disclaimer lines called the Reservation of Rights in benefit plan docu-ments, allowing future changes to pension and benefit plans that have become a full page of detailed language. This is what he calls the “snake in the grass” that affects retirees in the future and takes them by surprise.
Curtis described that the corporations first went out to eliminate life insurance, health care and other retiree benefits. “Now they want our pensions,” he said.
Curtis told the audience of his positive impressions of the CenturyLink executives that he met at their annual meet-ing last year in Monroe, Louisiana, describing them as “good hands” although the pension plan is not fully-funded.,
Currently Curtis is representing 41,000 Verizon manage-
ment retirees who had their pensions sold to Prudential
Insurance Company and converted into annuities that are
regulated by state insurance commissioners instead of
the federal ERISA laws. He plans to continue working to
create understanding in Congress and retiree groups
making them aware of the dangers to the pension protec-
tions counted on by retirees.
Curtis Reflects On His 29-Years Representing Retirees
Curtis L. Kennedy, AUSWR Litigation Attorney
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 4 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
AUSWR Retiree Advocates —Here To Help YOU! If you have questions about your benefits, FIRST contact the: Service Center at 800-729-7526 If you are unable to resolve your problem, THEN call your state AUSWR Retiree Advocate listed below:
State Tel. No. Email State Tel. No. Email
ARIZONA: 602-504-6774 [email protected]
NEW MEXICO: 505-298-8666 [email protected] Martha Deahl Cassie Kelley
COLORADO: 303-442-1831 [email protected]
NO. DAKOTA: 763-757-4985 [email protected] Jim Heinze Barb Hermanson
IDAHO: 208-342-3449 [email protected]
OREGON: 503-628-0555 [email protected] Shirley Moss Jim Haynes
IOWA: 605-332-3670 [email protected]
SO. DAKOTA: 605-332-3670 [email protected] Vikki Farrand Vikki Farrand
MINNESOTA
763-757-4985 [email protected]
UTAH:
[email protected] [email protected]
Barb Hermanson Dick Johnson 801-963-6220 Byron Lemmon 801-295-4653
MONTANA: WASHINGTON: 206-368-8686 [email protected] Shirley Moss 208-342-3449 [email protected] Shirley Jones
NEBRASKA: WYOMING: 303-442-1831 [email protected] Jim Heinze 303-442-1831 [email protected] Jim Heinze
To call the CenturyLink Service
Center: Dial 1-800-729-7526
Press 2 – For Former CenturyLink
Employee (includes all retirees)
Press 1 - For Medical, Life, Dental,
Vision,
—Choose this option if you
want to report a Retiree’s Death, or
access your HealthCare Reimburse-
ment Account (HRA)
Press 2 - For 401-K
Press 3 – Pension or Pension Pay-
roll
After making a selection you will be
asked to enter the following:
The last 4 digits of Your Social Se-
curity number
Your Date of Birth in this format:
MM/DD/YYYY
Now you will be asked what you are
calling about:
Healthcare, Life or Disability,
Commuter Benefits,
Healthcare Reimbursement
Account, Report a Death,
or other benefit question
—You will be asked to please hold
and a representative will join your
call.
Hazel Floyd—CO President Robert Rucker—WY President
Colorado/Wyoming has not decided whether we will quit operations at the end of 2013 or will keep going. We have plans for 2013 now, including our Annual Meet-ing in Denver on October 12th. Our regular visits to the outstate areas in both Colorado and Wyoming are planned for 2013 as well.
We have scheduled quarterly Medicare 101 classes through 2013.
We hope to keep our Area Representa-tives network active and available. Our Health Care Advisor for all states is located on the Colorado Board and Retiree Advo-cate for many states is also. We will publish our Guardian issues as usual in which we will include national activities that may af-fect all retirees.
CO/WY Co-Presidents’ Message
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 5 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
Retiree Guardian Staff
AUSWR Regional & Arizona Editor: Kitty Kennedy
Tel: 520-883-8272 / cell 520-444-6617
Email: [email protected]
Colo/Wyo/New Mexico Editor: Pamela Davis Tel: 303–932-7533
Email: [email protected]
Utah/Idaho/Montana Editor: Susan Johnson
Tel: 801-963-6220
Email: [email protected]
Oregon/ Washington Editor: Gary White Tel: 253-952-4612 Email: [email protected]
IA/MN/NE/ND/SD Editor: Jerry Miller Tel: 763-424-3524 Email: [email protected]
2013 AUSWR Officers
President —Mimi Hull (Colorado)
Treasurer —Roger Sanger (Arizona)
Secretary —Eve Mary Verde (Utah)
Retiree Advocate Ombudsman
— Jim Heinze (Colorado)
Litigation Attorney — Curtis L Kennedy
Retiree Guardian Regional Editor
—Kitty Kennedy (Arizona)
2011-2012 Board of Directors
and State Leaders:
Arizona President
Kitty Kennedy — tel 520-883-8272 Email: [email protected]
Colorado/Wyoming Presidents
Hazel Floyd — tel. 303-455-1535
Email: [email protected]
Bob Rucker — 307-632-8470
Email: [email protected]
New Mexico President
Irene Chavira —tel. 505 352-6666
Email: [email protected]
IA/MN/NE/ND/SD Chair
Mary Ann Neuman —tel. 763-535-3865
Email: [email protected]
OR/WA President
Judy Stenberg —tel. 425-746-5248 Email: [email protected]
UT/ID/MT Chair
Donnetta Mitchell —tel. 801-269-9997
Email: [email protected]
By Barbara Wilcox, AUSWR CO/WY Some retirees received an extra check from CenturyLink in De-cember. The checks were pre-ceded by a letter from Centu-ryLink explaining that distribu-tion was being made of the mon-ey awarded to Qwest under the Early Retirement Reinsurance Program (ERRP). All persons who paid premiums into Qwest health plans in 2010 received a check. If you did not pay health care premiums in 2010, then you did not receive a check, even though you may have participat-ed in a Qwest health plan. ERRP was established by the Pa-tient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA also called Obamacare). Congress ap-propriated $5 billion to help pay the healthcare costs of retirees aged 55 to 64, who are not yet eligible for Medicare. Excerpts from CenturyLink’s let-ter to affected retirees and em-ployees are given below.
“Under EERP, the federal gov-
ernment authorized reimburse-
ment to participating organiza-
tions for certain medical costs
covered under employer group
health plans for retirees (non-
Medicare eligible) and certain
family members. ERRP requires
the Company to use reimburse-
ments received from this pro-
gram: (1) to reduce company
health benefit costs associated
with the plan, and/or (2) share
with all plan participants.
“Our decision on the method for
distributing the ERRP reim-
bursements was based on guid-
ance provided in several discus-
sions with U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services
(“HHS”) representatives charged
with overseeing ERRP. Centu-
ryLink will share all ERRP reim-
bursements received by the
Qwest Health Care Plan (“the
Plan”) for the 2010 plan year
with all Plan participants
(including active employees and
retirees) that paid premiums for
medical coverage to the Plan
during the plan year 2010.
“… We had hoped that these re-
imbursement funds would go to
the retirees most affected by in-
creases in health coverage pre-
miums in 2012, but HHS guid-
ance required sharing these
funds with 2010 Qwest Health
Care Plan participants, which
included both active employees
and retirees.”
“Obamacare” —Affordable Care Act Funding
CenturyLink Distributes ERRP Funds
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 6 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
Medicare 101 Classes in 2013 By Barbara Wilcox
If you are turning 65 this year, or you just want to review the basics of how Medicare works, then I recom-mend that you attend a Medicare 101 class. We are offering a class each quarter specifically for CenturyLink retir-ees. The class will again be taught by William Kistler, Outreach & Project Director, Centura Health Links, which conducts the SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) for Metro Denver. We had such a good response to these classes last year that we want to offer them again this year. Like all SHIP services, these classes are free of charge. The dates are:
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
All classes are from 9:00 to 11:30 AM. The February class will be held at the Health Passport Office, 4200 W. Conejos Pl. Suite 200, Denver, Colorado 80204. The location of the other classes will be announced later. To sign up, contact Barbara Wilcox at [email protected] or 303-377-5761.
Classes for the general public are offered by SHIP at other times and places. Last year we did mailings to vari-ous parts of Colorado and to Wyoming giving the specific times and places of these classes. If you would like us to repeat those mailings this year, please notify your Area Representative (listed on the last page of this newsletter). Otherwise, you can find out about other Medicare 101 classes by calling 1-888-696-7213 in Colorado or 1-800-856-4398 in Wyoming. Or, consult the back cover of your copy of Medicare and You 2013 for the toll-free SHIP number in the state where you live.
Colorado Battaglia, Dorothy, 85 ................................... October 11, 2012 Becker, Elaine, 90 ........................................... January 27, 2013 Carson Mankel, Evelyn, 72 ....................... November 9, 2012 Casey, Kenneth B. (Kenn), 65 ................. November 9, 2012 Charles, Cynthia, 72 ............................................... May 17, 2012 Edwards, Albert (Hank) ............................. December 1, 2012 Frank, Thomas J., 78 ..................................... October 31, 2012 Groomer, Heidi Louise, 53 ....................... December 1, 2012 Halpern, Joe ....................................................... January 31, 2013 Heath, Rodman H., 92 ...................................... March 31, 2012 Heifner, Annette, 85 ................................... November 8, 2012 Hershey, Robbie ................................................. January 1, 2013 Holloway, Howard Joseph, 77 ................... October 17, 2012 Kattau, Anna M., 93 .............................................August 7, 2012 Lafferty, Basil (Bud) ...................................... January 15, 2013 McDonnell Jr., Thomas James, 76 ................... April 24, 2012 McHenry Jr., George B., 68 .................... September 16, 2012 McLain, Carletta E...................................... December 19, 2012 Mclean, Helen C., 80 ....................................... January 15, 2013 Mills, Constance (Connie), 61 ................ September 9, 2012 Pawloski, Alex (Al), 80 .............................. September 2, 2012 Petricka, John E., 82 ................................... September 6, 2012 Quinn, Mary, 86 ................................................. August 17, 2012 Richhart, Stanley l. (Stan), 72 ............... December 23, 2012 Ruch, Richard Karl II, (Dick), 78 ................. October 8, 2012
Schlichter, Charles, 88 ............................................ June 3, 2012 Sircy, Radford, 95 ........................................... October 22, 2012 Staab, Willard P. (Will), 75 .............................. August 9, 2012 Stevens, Howard R. (HR), 78 ................. December 14, 2012 Urban, Glenn A., 68 ........................................ October 12, 2012 Weller, Richard Wells, Raith E., 89..................................... September 19, 2012 Wilson, Welcome, 83 .............................. September 13, 2012 Wright, Barbara ......................................... November 17, 2012 New Mexico Brown Novick, Mary A., 88 ...................... September 1, 2012 Hemminger, Joe Edwin M., 78................... October 27, 2012 Hoagland, Gladys Helene, 92 ............... September 23, 2012 Kennedy, James Edward (Jim), 75 .... September 16, 2012 Montoya, Sarah M., 65 .............................. December 27, 2012 Owen, Charles Bruce, 76 ............................. October 26, 2012 Stephens, Bobbie Louise, 82 ................ September 23, 2012 Wyoming Lindberg, Leona A. (Charlie), 68 .......... December 30, 2012 Quinn, William T. (Tom), 77 ................................ June 3, 2008 Ritts, John D. (Jack), 82 .......................... September 11, 2012 South Dakota Sheffield, James, 58................................... November 19, 2012
Gone But Not Forgotten: Deaths thru February 2013
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 7 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
AUSWR CO/WY CHECK ONE: New Member[___] Annual Renewal [___] Change(s) Only [___]
(Please Print) _____________________________________________ ______________________________________ Last Name First Name _____________________________________________ ______________________________________ Last Name (If Dual Membership ) First Name Address _______________________________________________________________________________
City ______________________________________________ State __ __ Zip Code __ __ __ __ __
Phone _____________________________ E-mail: ___________________________________________
I would like to volunteer in the following areas:(you will be contacted)
Area Rep[__] Membership[__] Financial[__] Legislative[__] Media Relations[__] Other (specify) ________________________________________________________________________ I Retired from: (Company) __________________________________ Date ___________________
Spouse: (Company) __________________________________________ Date ___________________
I am an active employee: (Company) _______________________
Spouse active employee: (Company) _______________________
I own CenturyLink Stock (circle one): Y N Annual Dues: ($5.00 single and dual membership) $__________ Mail completed Form to: AUSWR CO/WY, PO Box 27027, Denver, CO 80227-0027
Board of Directors CO/WY
Colorado President Hazel Floyd—303-455-1535
Wyoming Co-Presidents
Bob & Jean Rucker—307-632-8470 [email protected]
Vice President-Communications
LaVerne Lanskey—303-770-4147 [email protected]
Vice President-Membership
John Rommelfanger—303-475-8225 [email protected]
Secretary
Don Warsavage—303-776-7782 [email protected]
Treasurer-Receipts/Budget Bill Campbell—303-988-2800
Treasurer-Disbursements
Pat Wood—303-985-8827 [email protected]
Health Care Specialist
Barbara Wilcox—303-377-5761 [email protected]
Legislative Representative
Pat Finley—303-425-0804 [email protected]
Database Manager
Dale Thompson—303-439-8796 [email protected]
E-mail Editor
Bill Alsdorf—303-659-4189 [email protected]
Newsletter Editor Pam Davis—303-932-7533
CWA/Legislative Rep
Harvey Hoffman—303-733-1955 [email protected]
CO/WY Retiree Advocate
Jim Heinze—303-442-1831 [email protected]
CHANGES TO ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER OR E-MAIL ADDRESS
If you have a change in your name, mailing address, phone number, or e-mail address,
please use the form above.
ALSO on the back page of this newsletter, your membership expiration date is included
on the mailing address. If your expiration date is near, use the form above to submit your
annual dues unless you have already done so.
IF YOU KNOW of any prospective members who have not yet joined the Association,
please provide them with a copy of the Membership Application form, or have them
contact John Rommelfanger, Vice President of Membership at 303-475-8225. A copy of
the form can also be printed from our web site at www.uswestretiree.org.
IMPORTANT TAX INFORMATION The AUSWR CO/WY is authorized as a
nonprofit tax-exempt organization however, dues and donations are NOT DEDUCTIBLE
on your personal tax return. Records are available via written request at P.O. Box 27027,
Denver, CO 80227.
Wyoming Area Representatives Out of State Members Contact
Casper Area
Gary Overturf—303-527-9005
Lander-Riverton
Jim Reddon—307-856-6833
Cheyenne Area
Dorothy Rhoades—307-235-4501
John Rommelfanger 303-475-8225
Retiree Guardian—2013 Issue 1 February 8 Colorado—Wyoming—New Mexico Edition
AUSWR CO/WY P.O. Box 27027 Denver, CO 80227
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Arvada Betty Moore—303-936-7917
Aurora Pat Finley —303-425-0804
Boulder/Longmont Volunteer Needed
Contact John Rommelfanger 303-475-8225
Broomfield John & Veronica Rommelfanger
303-475-8225—[email protected]
Castle Rock/Monument Charley Heard—303-660-9593
Colorado Springs Ralph Rohrig—719-550-8267
Denver East Ed Arnold—303-321-7766
Denver Southeast Robert Wiswell—720-859-7641
Denver Southwest Jim Hodges—303-798-3213
Englewood
Ed Payne-303-781-2222
Fort Collins/Loveland Chuck Rider—970-267-0817
Fort Morgan John Jump—970-867-7221
Golden
Bonnie Carter—303-279-6902
Grand Junction/Durango Sue Berndt—970-263-9008
Greeley
Chuck Rider—970-267-0817
Lakewood Don Hinkley—303-988-0095
Littleton (80220—80222) Ed Dinkins—303-794-6625
Littleton (80223—80225—80227) LaVerne Lanskey—303-770-4147
Littleton (80224—80226—80228)
Tom Spall—303-768-9454
Middle Park Shirley Willis—970-468-0277
Parker/Sedalia Volunteer Needed
Contact John Rommelfanger 303-475-8225
Pueblo/South Park Tony Juarez—719-546-6065
South East Colorado Wesley Colvin—719-384-2436
Thornton/Brighton Volunteer Needed
Contact John Rommelfanger 303-475-8225
Westminster/Wheat Ridge Alice M. Peterson—303-424-7609
COLORADO AREA REPRESENTATIVES 2013
—Change Your Home Address? —Or Phone Number? —Or Email Address? PLEASE CHECK THE MAIL LABEL AND LET US KNOW YOUR CHANGES You can help us save $$$ in return postage, if we have your new address, phone no & email address. Contact Dale Thompson 303-439-8796 or [email protected] Or send a note to: AUSWR PO Box 27027 Denver, CO 80227-0027 Visit your website:
AUSWR.org
