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Autumn 2006 A Periodic Publication from the East End Health Plan

EAST END HEALTH PLAN

FLEXIBLE BENEFITS

SEC 125

Consider your annual out-of-pocketcosts for health care relatedexpenses. If you add together yourco-payments to doctors andspecialists, your dental procedures,and costs for eyewear not included inyour plan, the costs do add upannually, even with a comprehensivebenefit plan like EEHP.

Using pre-tax dollars to pay theseexpenses saves significant moneyover the course of the year. The EastEnd Health Plan Flexible SpendingAccount/Section 125 Benefit canhelp you by allowing you to savemoney before taxes are levied. Thisenables you to use the money fromyour Flexible Spending Account(FSA) to pay for your health relatedexpenses before you have paid taxeson your earnings.

Only active employees can enroll inthe FSA. The FSA is not availableto retirees.

The East End Health Plan Trusteeshave made an amendment to theplan, encouraging more members toparticipate and improving planefficiency. The following changeswill occur over the next 18 months:

Beginning January 1, 2007,the plan year will beshortened and end onSeptember 30, 2007.The Health Care andDependent CareReimbursement maximumwill be pro-rated for this 9month period.

The new plan year willbegin on October 1, 2007and run the entire year untilSeptember 30, 2008.During this period, theHealth Care and DependentCare reimbursementmaximum will be restoredto their original amountsfor plan year 2007-2008and all future plan years.

East End Health Plan hopes that thischange will allow you to bettermanage your F S A accounts and weencourage you to participate in thisadvantageous benefit.

Contact your District’s Health PlanCoordinator for more information onhow to participate in the East EndHealth Plan Flexible BenefitsProgram.

GENERIC PRESCRIPTIONS:

SAME QUALITY, BIG

SAVINGS

You have just dropped a prescriptionoff at your pharmacy, and the personbehind the counter asks you, “Is it allright to substitute this prescriptionmedicine for the genericequivalent?” What do you say?What should you do?

The best thing you can do is to knowthe facts before you are in thatsituation. You may have questionsabout generics, but this is all youreally need to know:

Generic medicines are

proven to be safe and

effective by the Food and

Drug Administration (FDA)

before they can be sold.

What is a brand name drug and

what is a generic?

A brand name drug is one that isdiscovered, created, and researched by abrand name pharmaceuticalmanufacturer. Once they havediscovered a chemical that has potentialto become a new medicine, the brandname company will usually get a patentfor the medicine and its brand name.Once the patent is granted, the brandmanufacturer has approximately 20 yearsto research, develop, secure FDAapproval, and sell the medicine with nocompetition from other manufacturers.When the patent expires, othermanufacturers can get FDA approval andmarket the same medicine under itsgeneric name.

Brand name and generic equivalentdrugs work exactly the same due tothe fact that they are made of thesame active ingredients. Ensuringthe generic is equal to its brand namedrug counterpart is the job of theFDA. The FDA has set highstandards to make sure all approvedgeneric medicines are thetherapeutic equivalent of their brandname counterparts. That means ageneric drug can be substituted and itwill produce the same clinical effect,and meet the same safety profile andother standards, as the brand namedrug.

The FDA is very strict in theirreview of a generic medicine before

it goes to market. In most cases, theaverage person would not be able totell the difference between a genericand a brand name drug, other than itssize, color or shape. (In fact, United

EAST END HEALTH PLAN

NEWS & NOTESThe East End Educator’s

Choice for Quality

Health Insurance

MEMBER RESOURCES

Medical: United Health Care888-607-5214www.myuhc.com

Prescription Drugs: Caremark800-966-5772www.caremark.com

Vision Benefits: Davis Vision800-283-9374www.davisvision.com

Flex Benefits: JJ Stanis Co.516-465-3900www.jjstanisco.com

EEHP Offices:

631-687-3140

www.eehp.org

** VISIT THE EAST END HEALTH PLAN WEBSITE AT WWW.EEHP.ORG **

East End Health Planc/o Eastern Suffolk BOCES201 Sunrise HighwayPatchogue, NY 11772

** VISIT THE EAST END HEALTH PLAN WEBSITE AT WWW.EEHP.ORG **

States trademark laws require thatgenerics look different from theirbrand name equivalents.

An example of a commonlyprescribed brand name drug with ageneric equivalent is the cholesterollowering agent Zocor. Zocor is aNon-Preferred drug, with a retailcost of $30. The generic equivalent,Simvastatin, costs EEHP membersonly $5 at the pharmacy, a savings of$25 per 34 day supply for yourprescription!

So, what do you do?

You know the generic medicine issafe and effective. If you want to

save an average of 60%* on your

prescription, you’ll say YES!

The best thing about generics is howmuch money you can save. In ourpharmacy benefit plan, we pay thelowest co-pay whenever we fill aprescription with a generic. Andremember, you’re not sacrificing athing. You can Count on Generics

for quality and effectiveness withBIG savings.

To find out whether a prescriptiondrug is available in a generic form orto determine the FDA status of ageneric drug, visit these web sites:http://www.fda.gov/cder/org/approvals/default.htm or

http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/generic_info/generic_question.htmTo learn more about generics andhow they impact your health andfinancial well being, visit Caremarkatwww.caremark.com/countongenerics.

For your information, your EEHP

Prescription drug benefit co-

payment levels are:

Retail

$ 5 Generic

$ 15 Preferred Brands

$ 30 Non-Preferred Brands

Mail-Order/90 Day Supply

$ 5 Generic

$ 20 Preferred Brands

$ 40 Non-Preferred Brands

YOUR NEW PHARMACY ID

CARD AND NUMBER

In order to improve the efficiencyin which the East End Health Planprovides you with your prescriptiondrug benefit, the EEHP Trusteeshave decided to utilize a separateID card for our drug program.

You should have received two EastEnd Health Plan/Caremark IDcards with a new unique ID numberin the mail during September.Your social security number maybe used in case you forget yournew Pharmacy ID #, or if you loseyour cards, however, for privacyand security purposes, weencourage you to use your uniqueID #. If you have previouslyregistered at caremark.com usingyour social security number, youneed not register again, as yourunique ID # will be automaticallylinked to your social securitynumber.

Remember to show your newpharmacy ID Card at yourpharmacy whenever you fillprescriptions.

If you have any question regardingyour prescription coverage, pleasecontact an EEHP/CaremarkCustomer Care representative at 1-800-966-5772, 24 hours a day, 7days a week.

You can also use caremark.com toorder your maintenance prescriptionrefills, check your medicinecoverage cost, and more.

INFORMATION ON CALL

WHEN YOU REGISTER FOR

MYUHC.COM

Have you registered for myuhc.comyet?

The tools at myuhc.com are bothpractical and personalized, so you

can get the most from your EEHPbenefits. Register at myuhc.com andconnect to current, comprehensiveinformation about your benefits andhealth care interests. Here are someof the features you can access onceyou register:

1. Review your medicalclaims online. View andprint copies of yourmedical claims.

2. Learn more about yourcoverage. Check yourcurrent eligibility, co-pays,deductibles, and out-of -pocket costs.

3. Print a temporary ID Card,or request a replacement atanytime.

4. Get information abouthospitals and physicians.Evaluate hospitals onquality of care and patientsafety measures. Identifyin -network physicians andhospitals.

5. Learn about healthconditions, treatments, andprocedures.

6. Medical information inplain English gets right tothe point, from reliablesources.

7. Compare costs fortreatments and health planoptions. Compare in andout-of-network costs forparticular procedures, soyou are best prepared withknowledge about yourfinancial exposure.

8. Connect online with aregistered nurse who cananswer your questions. Seepostings from nurses,physicians, and other healthprofessionals who answerquestions submitted byother myuhc.com users.

9. Access your monthlyHealth Statement.

Register for myuhc.com today

** VISIT THE EAST END HEALTH PLAN WEBSITE AT WWW.EEHP.ORG **

NEW, SIMPLER

EXPLANATION OF

BENEFITS FOR EEHP

MEMBERS

The East End Health Plan, inpartnership with our thirdparty, administratorUnitedHealthcare, strives tomake the health careexperience simpler and easy tounderstand. One way we aredoing this is by introducing anew Explanation of Benefits,also known as your HealthStatement.

Instead of receiving a separateExplanation of Benefits (EOB)for each individual claim,members will receive just oneHealth Statement each month.It shows all claims processedfor that period, as well asremaining balances fordeductibles and out-of-pocketexpenses. If there are noclaims for a given month, nostatement will be mailed.Now, you will have one, easy-to –read record of claims for amore complete view of healthcare expenses.

Members can still accessEOBs online at myuhc.com.Your monthly HealthStatement is available atmyuhc.com also.

The Health Statement:

• Is easy to understand• Recaps claims for the

month• Summarizes

information for allmembers of thehousehold

• Provides remainingdeductible and out-of-pocket expensebalances

• Offers health careconsumer alerts andmoney-saving tips

• Arrives monthly,unless no claims havebeen processed

• Reduces paperworkand confusion

• Makes it easier tomanage your plan

• Available online atmyuhc.com

To stop mail delivery of HealthStatements, or to continue toreceive paper Explanation ofBenefits for each claim filed, goonline to myuhc.com, “ManageMy Account/Set MailPreferences”, or call 888-607-5214

“RETIREES KORNER”

Reminder:

The claim year ends on December 31and all claims for services providedin 2006 must be filed and receivedbyMarch 31, 2007, in order to be actedupon. Remember that if you haveclaims for health services on or beforeJune 30, 2006, you must file yourEEHP claim through Vytra at:

EEHPc/o Vytra Health PlansClaims DepartmentPO Box 9091Melville, NY 11747-9091

If the health services were provided onor after July 1, 2006 the claim must befiled through UnitedHealthcare at:

EEHPc/o UnitedHealthcarePO Box 740800Atlanta, GA 30374-0800

Earlier in this newsletter, theMYUHC.COM feature of theEEHP/UnitedHealthcare services wasreviewed. This is a most valuable toolfor retirees. There is a wealth ofinformation to find, once you have

registered on line. For example, youcan check your deductible amount, outof pocket expenses, or check on apending claim. You can get helpchoosing a doctor or you can researcha prescription drug that you are taking.You can also research the health caretopics important to you. You may wantto read on wellness and health. In fact,there is so much to view and read thatyou will be amazed and pleased withthe access to information that you willhave. Of course, access is provided 24hours a day seven days a week, so goonline and check it out!

EEHP is always interested in hearingfrom our members. We want to knowhow EEHP - UHC is working for you.Do you have a problem that does notseem to get resolved? Did you have agood experience using EEHP - UHC?We want to know. Retirees can e-mailto: eehpretirees1@verizon.net., or, asalways, you can write. The address is:

EEHP c/o Eastern Suffolk BOCES,201Sunrise Highway, Patchogue, NY11705

EEHP WEB SITE RE-DESIGN

UNDERWAY

In order to improvecommunications and updateinformation, our website,www.eehp.org, is currently beingre-designed to provide ourmembers with updated and moreuseful information. It will be easierto navigate and more user friendly.So, we ask for your patience as wecomplete our “reconstruction”.

Stay happy and stay healthy!!