Trustees of the National Maritime Union (NMU) Welfare Plan last month recommended that the Plan merge into the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan (SHBP). Seafarers Trustees approved the recommendation Feb. 6 during a meeting at SIU headquarters in Camp Springs, Md.The target date for implementation of the health plans’ merger is June 1.
“It should be a seamless move and a big money-saver,” stated Seafarers Plans Administrator Bill Dennis. “The NMU schedule of benefits will remain unchanged, other than they will be administered by the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan. But the benefits themselves are exactly the same, and they’re available specifically for people who had been covered by the NMU.
“Likewise, there’s no change for members covered by the Seafarers Plans,” Dennis added.
Carolyn Gentile, General Counsel to the Seafarers Plans, noted, “The merger basically keeps the status quo in terms of benefits, but the administration will be under one roof. It will be more efficient because operations will be uniform, though of course according to the separate benefit schedules.”
Similar consolidations of medical plans have occurred between other unions that merged with the SIU. The NMU merged into the SIU in June 2001.
The last NMU contract expires in 2006. NMU retirees don’t receive medical benefits.
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