NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

Ok Ladies I need your help big time. I am a new NYC teacher starting Sept. I need to choose my health coverage and have no clue where to start. Can you maybe reccommend/share your experiences. Also, do you have to pay for the prescription/optical/dental provided by the UFT and how do i enroll in the UFT Welfare Fund..i cant seem to find the forms online. Any info would be great. I am soooo lost!! TIA!!!!

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

As for the benefits plan you need to choose which one is best for you. Personally I went with GHI, you do not need any referals ( which is great).

You do not need to pay for medical, dental, vision etc... it all is paid under your one Union fee. So the Union fee will come out of your check and that covers everything. However, you do need to pay co-pays when you visit the doctor, dentist etc.

When you start, your school secretary should have a packet of all the forms that you need to fill out.

You also will need to fill out forms for the TRS & TDA which is the the teacher pension & retirement system.

One little piece of advice for you is TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE SECRETARY, she will totally help you with everything.

FM me if you have questions
hope this helps

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

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Posted by elfkin28

You do not need to pay for medical, dental, vision etc... it all is paid under your one Union fee. So the Union fee will come out of your check and that covers everything.

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the union fee is the $5 bi-weekly??? and is it no cost just for GHI or all medical plans?? Bc the one schedule i have says no cost for GHI but has costs for other plans...BUT the schedule is from the NYC.gov website NOT from the UFT. This is all very confusing.

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

The union fee is about 30-40 a paycheck.

Some plans might be an additional cost, i'm not really sure.
If you are prone to getting sick, like if you have asthma or something medically wrong, then they do offer a 'rider' which costs a few dollars more. But, they only reccomend this if you know you will need more medical attention than the norm.

I don't know if you are trying to do this on your own, but if you are DON'T. I would wait and get all the paperwork from your school. It gets really confusing

Like I said ask questions

Oh & make sure you fill out a salary step placement form, this is very important

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

elfkin is right.... ghi costs nothing... they just give info. on the others in the event that you need more than GHI covers. Dentists on the Welfare Fund and Vision on Welfare Fund are NO co-pays.

Make friends with the secretary... they are the bomb and will help with everything!

i went with GHI

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

GHI all the way!

And about the UFT Welfare Fund, your UFT chapter leader in your school should give you those forms during your first week at work (if not, ask him about it), that you'll be able to fill out and mail in.

HTH! Good luck and congrats on your new job! What grade are you teaching?

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

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Posted by drpepper318

GHI all the way!

And about the UFT Welfare Fund, your UFT chapter leader in your school should give you those forms during your first week at work (if not, ask him about it), that you'll be able to fill out and mail in.

HTH! Good luck and congrats on your new job! What grade are you teaching?

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thank you soo much! GHI seems to be the majority. And i am teaching 4/5 self contained

Re: NWR: NYC Teachers I need you help!!!

thank you soo much! GHI seems to be the majority. And i am teaching 4/5 self contained

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Good luck to you... i teach 5th grade self-contained on Long Island and i taught 3-4-5 self-contained in the city.... FM if you need anything! they will be a challenging group, I'm sure! but it will never be dull, i can promise you that!