Express Scripts Important Update

Volume 7, Issue 3

April 8, 2016

GET THE WORD OUT!

> SIGN UP FOR PARA'S

   ONLINE BULLETINS

>  RETIREMENTS &

   FLYERS

> BENEFITS INFO

> BENEFITS - FORMS

PORT AUTHORITY
OF NY & NJ LINKS

> PANYNJ WEBSITE

> PA NEWS (PARA WEBSITE)

JOIN PARA!

> PAY PARA DUES NOW

    PA and PATH Retirees
    and Active Employees
    may join PARA.

DEAR PARA MEMBERS,

Some or perhaps many of you received a letter from the Port Authority's Employee Benefits Division, Human Resources Department (HRD), dated February 16, 2016, about the prescription drug benefit administered by Express Scripts. The essence of it was to alert those covered under this benefit that long-term maintenance prescriptions would have to be

received via mail order in the coming months.

The result of this initial mailing was confusion and concern among PA and PATH retirees and their dependents. Some people did not receive the letter at all, and in a number of cases several weeks passed from the date of the letter before it arrived in mailboxes. Many questions, comments and concerns reached your PARA Board very quickly, and we in turn contacted HRD immediately. As a result of the feedback that we shared with HRD, they acted quickly to:

address the questions and feedback we provided;
revise the original February 16 letter from HRD and the FAQs from Express Scripts; and
mail this new letter and FAQs, now dated April 8, 2016, to all PA and PATH retirees.

Your PARA Board wanted to give you a heads-up about this situation, and reassure you that we were on top of it. We also want to reassure you that the prescription benefit is not changing, and in many cases we understand that the cost might be better via home delivery.

Once again, this change is for long-term maintenance prescriptions only.

You might wish to wait until you receive this new letter from HRD before contacting PA Benefits. However, please know you should call the PA Benefits hotline at (212)435-2870 with your specific benefits questions of all kinds.

We will post the link to the April 8, 2016 letter and FAQs from Express Scripts on PARA's home page shortly -- look for the link under "Current Items of Interest."

Thank you for your continuing support of PARA, and please share this with your fellow retirees, since not all members have subscribed to receive these eBulletins.

Sincerely,

YOUR PARA BOARD

DISCLAIMER:

The Port Authority Retirees Association, Inc. does not provide, and this notice does not constitute, legal or other professional advice. We recommend you contact your own professional advisor for such matters as neither The Port Authority Retirees Association, Inc., nor anyone associated with this notice, assumes responsibility for your relying on the information provided, even though we have attempted to ensure that it reflects our understanding of what is presented.

WHAT IS PARA?

The Port Authority Retirees Association (PARA), a not-for-profit corporation, was formed in 1989 to promote the welfare of retirees of the Port Authority (and PATH). That is accomplished by PARA's acting as spokesperson for Port Authority retirees. We foster and encourage legislation that maintains or improves our circumstances primarily as it affects the pensions of the New York State Retirement System. Our more than 4,200 members are strengthened by PARA's affiliation with the Alliance of Public Retiree Organizations (APRO) representing more than 350,000 members.