happenings
March 29th Update on Grundy's Battle Against Cancer
Don Grundhauser was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer with metastasis to his lungs, liver, and lymph nodes.
Follow the link below for an update.
St Paul Police Retirement Association Quarterly Meeting. April 3, 2025
The next quarterly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 3rd, at 1 PM in the Blue Room of the St. Paul Police Federation, located at 831 Como Avenue. A bylaws resolution will be presented to the membership and it is available for viewing or download in the
members area.
Annual Police Memorial
The St Paul Police Department has sent out invitations to the annual Police Memorial Service that will be held on
Wednesday May 14th, 2025 at 12 pm
at the Minnesota Police Memorial on the State Capital gounds in St Paul, MN
The city is asking for an RSVP via a QR code included in the invitation. When you RSVP you will be sent a parking placard and instructions on where to park.
You should have received an invitation in the U.S. mail as well as an email from the SPPRA Secretary. You can download a copy on the invitation on the Members Page as well as the QR code.
Save the date for the St Paul Police Retirement Dinner to be held on May 29, 2025
More information will follow but the date has been set for the annual St Paul Police Retirement Association Recognition Awards Dinner. It will be held 5/29/25. Invitation infomration will be sent out soon and updated here as well.
2025 Jerry Vick Memorial Golf Tournament
2025 Jerry Vick Memorial Golf Tournament
When: Monday June 2, 2025
10 am Shotgun Start
Where: River Oaks Golf Course
11099 U.S. 61
Cottage Grove, MN 55106
18 Hole sramble with a longest drive, Mens and Womens, Closest to the Pin, Mens and Womens., Door Prizes, Raffles and Silent Auction.
All proceeds to benefit the Jerry Vick Memorial Law Enforcement Charity Foundation.
The cost is $140 per golfer which includes Golf, Cart, Dinner and Gift Bag. Please register early as this tournament will fill up fast. Registration deadline is May 15, 2025.
Send your registration and fees to
Benjie Lehner
4926 132nd Way
Hugo, MN 55038
You can email him at benj514@yahoo.com
This is a rain or shine event.
Support the Fillowich Family
2025 Jerry Vick Memorial Golf Tournament
Please consider helping out the family of Shawn Filiowich to defray his medical expenses. Sadly Shawn lost his battle with cancer on 1/4/25. Shawn had dedicated his 28-year career to protecting and serving the City of Saint Paul and now his family needs our help.
Thanks in advance for your generosity! Please use the button below to help out if you can.
Federation Requests City Position on Unused Retiree Health Insurance Benefits
Federation Requests City Position on Unused Retiree Health Insurance Benefits
Federation Requests City Position on Unused Retiree Health Insurance Benefits
Some time ago, we notified the Federation that Regular Retirees were not allowed access to unused health insurance benefits to pay Medicare Part B premiums. The first Federation attorney had a strange response and rejected our position (see newsletter accounts here).
Federation President Mark Ross disagreed with the attorney's opinion and decided to pursue the issue directly with City Labor Relations. In August of this year, President Ross requested a documented interpretation why the City is choosing to withhold our use of excess Federation benefits for a City-provided health insurance premium.
The City replied to the Federation soon after.
We at the SPPRA find the City response incomplete and inaccurate. The Part B premium is not separate nor is it a part of a third-party insurance program. The Part B premium is a seamless requirement of the only private health insurance plan offered to Regular Retirees under contract.
SPPRA & Veteran Firefighters request LMCHI information on Medicare coverage
Federation Requests City Position on Unused Retiree Health Insurance Benefits
Federation Requests City Position on Unused Retiree Health Insurance Benefits
Hopefully, those of you on and approaching Medicare have been following the insurance coverage news here and in the media.
We and the St. Paul Veteran Firefighters Association (retired firefighters) discovered our City Medicare insurance contract expired at the end of this year. When we investigated, we found there had been no mention of it at the St. Paul Labor Management Committee on Health Insurance (LMCHI).
Management routinely discusses and negotiates with Labor all health insurance provided by contract or CBA. Or so we foolishly thought. The LMCHI is composed of representatives of all bargaining units in the City (unions) and City Benefits team members.
We requested our representatives from the Federation (Police) and Local 21 (Fire) place a letter on the August 12 meeting of the LMCHI agenda asking what is in store for 2025 City Medicare users. Go here if you'd like to read about what we found out.
MONTHLY RETIREE DINNER - Thursday - April 10th - 4P
Join us at Mancini's
Social hour starts at 4:00 pm with dinner orders taken around 5:00-5:15 pm. Cost is $35 which includes choice of entree, two drinks, dessert and tip. Please notify Dan Collins by noon on Tuesday the 8th of April if you plan on attending. Arrive by 4pm for the best seating options.
US Senate Releases scathing medicare advantage Report
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, Committee Chair, Speaks Out
"...Blumenthal joined state (Connecticut) disability advocates in criticizing the deceptive and misleading advertising of in-state insurance providers, particularly UnitedHealthcare, which made false or misleading claims in promotion of Medicare Advantage. Blumenthal said that the blame for Medicare Advantage’s inadequacy falls at the feet of private insurance providers. “Quite simply, the insurance companies are profiteering,” said Blumenthal. “They are taking advantage of excuses to deny or delay coverage, and the victims of those practices are patients and their families..."
"...Furthermore, Connecticut State Senator Saud Anwar said that, in 2022 alone, 3.4 million prior authorizations for care had been denied by Medicare Advantage. That number represented 7.4% of all service and care requests made by Medicare Advantage policyholders. Anwar noted that 83% of appeals were successful, ascertaining that this statistic showed how many of those denials were wrong. “This is the cause of a significant burden in the healthcare system, to have people fight on the phones in this archaic manner, to wait and listen to music for hours, to be able to get their medications” said Anwar..."
Read news articles about the report here and here. The full Senate Subcommittee report is here.
Us HHS OIG is skeptical with UHC at-home visit billing
Medicare Advantage plans received billions from Medicare for home visits
"...An estimated $7.5 billion in risk-adjusted payments was pocketed by MA insurers (Medicare Advantage Plan insurers) when diagnoses were only found on chart reviews but no other service records. At-home visits and chart reviews make up $4.2 billion of the total payments from the government to MA insurers in fiscal year 2023, yet at-home visits make up just 13% of all chart reviews..."
"...There were no follow-up visits, procedures or tests provided to 1.7 million enrollees, leading the feds to believe the diagnoses were incorrect or members were not adequately treated. Private insurers received greater payments from at-home reviews than other types of chart reviews. MA companies generated $1,869 on average in payments from at-home visits, versus just $365 from facility-based chart reviews..."
"...Of the $7.5 billion in risk-adjusted payments, 20 companies received 80% (or $6 billion) of the funds yet only treat half of MA enrollees. These companies received a share of payments that exceeded their percentage of enrollees by more than 25%, the report explained. UnitedHealth Group earned $3.73 billion in payments, by far the most of any other health plan..."
Read news article about the report here.
