Michigan Retiree Plan
IMPORTANT!
This Retiree Health Plan is only applicable to Michigan Kroger Local 876, Hollywood Markets and UFCW Local 876 employees.
Your retirement plan is one of the most important parts of your financial future. If you are thinking about retiring, you may want to explore the MI UFCW Unions and Employers Retiree Health and Welfare Plan. The Retiree Health Plan was specifically designed to meet the healthcare needs of participants who retire before the age of 65. It essentially bridges the gap between active benefits and Medicare coverage.
If you are between the ages of 55 and 65 and have 15 years of service (with a participating employer), and meet the eligibility criteria, you may be eligible to join the MI Retiree Health Plan.
ElIgibility Requirements
- You must have reached age 55 but not age 65; and
- You must have participated as an active full-time employee in the Michigan UFCW Unions and Employers Health and Welfare Fund for at least 15 years. If you participated in the Michigan UFCW Unions and Employers Health and Welfare Plan, but without leaving the active employment with your Employer, transferred participation to the Heartland Fund as a result of your Employer’s negotiating a transfer of participation into the Heartland Fund, those years will be counted for purposes of satisfying the 15-year requirement; and
- You must have retired directly from active* employment with a Contributing Employer with eligibility for an immediate pension from the UFCW International Union – Industry Pension Fund or a predecessor pension fund and you have applied for such pension; and
- Throughout the period of five years immediately preceding retirement, you must have been employed by one or more of the Contributing Employers in a position covered by a collective bargaining agreement (regardless of whether contributions were made to this Plan with regard to your service for the entire five-year period); and
- For at least three of the five years immediately preceding retirement, you must have worked as a full-time employee for whom employer contributions were made to the Michigan UFCW Unions and Employers Health and Welfare Plan and/or Heartland Fund, except that where the Plan has existed for less than three years or a Contributing Employer has participated in this Plan for less than three years, this requirement shall be applied by substituting such lesser period.
- In order to enroll in the Retiree Health Plan, if eligible, you must file an application for coverage with the Plan Administrative Office. You will not be covered under the Retiree Health Plan for any period before an application for enrollment is filed.
*Active employment includes your continuation on your Employer’s seniority list with recall rights, for up to 12-months after your Employer stops making contributions to the Plan on your behalf. You must apply for and be entitled to receive a pension effective no later than the expiration of the 12-month period.
Application Process
For a Michigan Retiree Health Plan application and more details on eligibility requirements, contact the Heartland Benefit Plan Administrators, LLC (“Heartland Administrators“) at 937-665-1900, extension 2190.