***Important Medicare Important***
Those retirees that are just qualifying for Medicare must be covered under part A and part B. If you are not covered by Part A and Part B you will lose a percentage of coverage provided by the City of Syracuse.You will also receive an application for Part D (Drug Coverage) for the same reason. As explained below, do not fill out this form.
The federal program, Medicare Part D, states that those presently covered by a program equal to or better than Medicare Part D should not fill out this application. You are already covered by the City of Syracuse Health Insurance Program (POMCO) which provides better coverage than the federal program. As a result, do not fill out the application for the Medicare Drug Program.
City of Syracuse Health Insurance
Effective March 1, 2007, the City of Syracuse Health Insurance Program was changed as follows:- Doctor's Visits - For those not in Medicare, doctor's visits will change from a $10 co-pay to a $15 co-pay per visit.
- Prescription Drug Coverage - This benefit will change to co-payments of $5.00 for generic drugs and $15 for brand name prescriptions.
- Mail Order Service - Use of the mail order service will be mandatory for maintenance drugs (90 day prescriptions or more) with only two co-payments per 90 day supply.
- Prescription Co-Payments - The maximum annual prescription co-pay will be $400 per person.
- Health Benefit Contribution - Enrollees or their spouses who are not medicare eligible will begin paying a monthly health benefit contribution of $15 for single coverage or $30 for family coverage. The contributions will be deducted directly from the New York State Retirement System monthly pension checks. The contributions will cease as enrollees or spouses become Medicare eligible. However, if only one spouse becomes eligible for Medicare, a payment would still be required but would be reduced to the $15 single coverage rate.
- Medical Deductible - As was the case previously, after the $50.00 medical deductible is applied, the City covers the remaining medical costs.
Retirees on Medicare
Medicare is the Primary provider and Pomco becomes the Secondary provider. After receiving an EOB (explanation of benefits) from Medicare, Pomco remits payments directly to the billing doctor. For those not on Medicare, a $15.00 co-payment is due for each visit.Retiree Spousal Benefits
Many of the questions that we receive regarding retiree benefits occur after the death of a retired firefighter. To make the benefit process easier during this difficult time, we would like to provide the following information. As always, if you have any questions, please contact us at (315) 474-3692 or click here to send an e-mail to Robert Smith, President of the Syracuse Retired Fire Fighters Association.In the case of the death of a retired Syracuse fire fighter, please notify the following entities. Note that a copy of the original death certificate must accompany notification.
- New York State Police & Fire Retiree System
110 State St.
Albany, NY 12244
- Social Security Administration
(800) 772-1213
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Notify Tom Sexton, President of Local 280
Syracuse Fire Fighters Insurance Fund
PO Box 11161
Syracuse, NY 13218-1161
(315) 475-0766
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Health Insurance: Shirley - (315) 448-8788
In the case of the death of a Syracuse retired firefighter, a spouse will pay directly to the City of Syracuse $88.00 per month to receive the same coverage as before. The spouse will be notified one time and then it is their responsibility to pay each month. Call Shirley in regards to any unbilled POMCO claims.