WELLNESS CLINIC HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

With the upcoming holidays fast approaching, please be aware of the Wellness Clinic holiday schedule:

December 22 – 26 (closed)
December 29 – 30 (9 AM – 1 PM, 2 PM – 6 PM)
December 31 (9 AM – Noon)
January 1 (closed)
January 2 (9 AM – 1 PM, 2 PM – 6 PM)

The Wellness Clinic will resume its regular hours of operation beginning January 5, 2009 (Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 1 PM and 2 PM – 6 PM). The phone number for the clinic is 686-1427. Please remember that there is a $20 no-show fee for missed appointments (unless you call to cancel).

PRESCRIPTION RENEWALS

If you are a Wellness Clinic patient and need to refill a prescription, please do not call the Wellness Clinic with your refill request. Instead, you should contact your pharmacy directly (either Wellpartner or your local pharmacy) with your refill request, even if your prescription is labeled no refill. The pharmacist will contact PeaceHealth if needed, and a PHMG clinical pharmacist will follow a protocol for prescription refill.

By calling the pharmacy directly, the process will be more efficient, allowing you to get your prescription sooner and saving the Wellness Clinic staff valuable time. Please allow 24 – 48 hours to process your request.

 

RETIREMENT PROCESS

If you are planning to retire at the end of this school year, there are two simple steps you’ll need to take.

Step one: Contact me and let me know three things:

1. What is your anticipated retirement date?
2. Will you have 30 years of PERS service on that date?
3. Who would you like to cover under your insurance when you retire?

Using your information, I will create a worksheet for you outlining your insurance costs and early retirement stipend information. Once I have completed your worksheet, we can meet in person to review the information, or we can discuss it over the phone, whichever is more convenient. To get this process started, please call (687-3244) or e-mail me (wenzl@4j.lane.edu).

Step two: Once you have made your decision about which insurance plan best meets your needs, you’ll need to set up an appointment with Jackie McLaughlin, 4J Benefits Manager, to complete the 4J retirement paperwork. Jackie can be reached at 687-3479 or at mclaughlin_j@4j.lane.edu.

If your anticipated retirement date is July 1, 2009, please plan to complete your retirement paperwork by April 1, 2009.

2008 FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS

If you participated in a Manley Flexible Spending Account for 2008, please remember that all expenses must be incurred between January 1 and December 31, 2008 to be eligible for reimbursement.

In order to claim the money you set aside, you’ll need to complete a “Request for Reimbursement” form, and submit it to Manley Services along with the appropriate documentation. You can contact Manley Services for the form or you can download it from the 4J website:

http://www.4j.lane.edu/hr/flexiblespendingplan

The deadline for reimbursement requests for the 2008 plan year is March 31, 2009. If you have questions, please call Manley Services customer service at 485-7488.

ODS ID CARDS

On October 1, 2008 our medical, vision and pharmacy coverage changed from Regence BCBSO to ODS. Our dental coverage remained with ODS after October 1st, but we have a different group number in 4J and all employees (and their dependents) have new individual numbers.

By now, you should have received your new insurance cards from ODS. This one card covers your medical, vision, pharmacy and dental benefits. Unfortunately, the 4J Employee Benefits Office cannot order those cards for you. If you have not yet received your new cards, please call ODS customer service at 1-866-923-0409. You can also order cards from the myODS website:

http://www.odscompanies.com/members/

If you need to access services covered by ODS and do not have cards, our group number in 4J is 10006629. You can find your individual number on your OEBB benefit statement. You may have printed this statement during open enrollment, and a copy should have been sent to you from OEBB earlier this fall. Your individual number begins with E and is followed by 8 numbers.

If you have recently moved, that could be what prevented your cards from reaching you. If that is the case, be sure and contact 4J Human Resources to update your address.

WINTER VACATION

Like all teachers, I will be on winter vacation from December 20, 2008 through January 4, 2009.

If you need assistance with your benefits during that period, you can contact the 4J Employee Benefits Office at 687-3491 or at benefits@4j.lane.edu. The EBO is open from 8 AM – 5 PM, Monday through Friday. It will be closed Thursday, December 25th and Thursday, January 1st.

If you have questions for the Oregon Educators Benefit Board (OEBB), you can reach them at 1-888-469-6322.

If you have questions for ODS, you can reach medical customer service at 1-866-923-0409, dental customer service at 1-866-923-0410 and pharmacy customer service at 1-866-923-0411.

Wellpartner (mail order pharmacy provider) can be reached at 1-866-680-4672. BioScrip (specialty medications provider) can be reached at 1-877-316-8921.

Have a wonderful vacation!