Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Focus on Benefits Vacation Q&A Continued from Page 4 A. Yes, if approved by departmental superintendent. If vacation pay is received it is counted as a weeKS vacation. Q. We have been told we would try to be advised before scheduling time if we are to run or stop July 4th. The policy says if the plant does not close, we will be notified no later than April 1. If the schedule is based on stopping July 4th and we are advised on April 1 that we will run, how will vacations be scheduled? A.We must advise all employees and let them reschedule another week of vacation. Q. If employees uses vacation pay to cover an unscheduled work stoppage, do they still get scheduled vacations if their pay has been used up? A. No. Q. Someone on vacation during a holiday week has the option not to count holiday as a vacation day. Does this entitle that person to "schedule" another day off? A. No. The employee will be paid for that day the second full week in December. Q. If someone has scheduled a vacation and decides they don't want to take it, can they be required to take it because it would cause the department to have to send out or have too many people on payroll? A. Yes. If arrangements have been made to allow an employee to take vacation and we cannot utilize the employee then the employee will have to take their scheduled vacation. Q. If someone schedules vacations and then transfers to another shift (or department) and their vacation schedule doesn't fit into the new shift or departments schedule what happens? Can scheduled vacation be denied? A. When an employee transfers from one shift to another the employee is informed that every effort will be made so they may take their vacation as scheduled. If it cannot be worked out employee must re-schedule their vacation. Q. Will a six day employee be eligible for six individual days (to cover absences or approved vacation days) and a 5 day person - 5 days and a two day person two days? A. Vacation week is based on 5 days for week day employees and two days for weekend employees. Vacation paid is based on W-2 earnings less vacation pay for previous calendar year. Out-patient surgery lowers costs Did you know there are several steps Clinton employees can take to help them use their health care benefits more Insurance Q&A 1. Q. When I have claim forms amounting to a sufficient number to file, how do I go about submitting them? A. Take them to the Personnel Department, but you need to complete the employee part of insurance form and attach a claim before leaving them at Personnel Dept. Do not mail claims directly to Provident, as they will send them back here before processing. 2. Q. My wife and I both have dependent coverage (double coverage). Does this mean my insurance will always pay my medical charges? A. No. Double coverage means that if one plan is obligated to pay $25 on a charge, then the spouse's insurance will pay up to $25 or 100 percent of charges. If you go to the doctor's office or emergency room for sickness and your charge is $50 and your insurance pays nothing because it is covered only under major medical, then your spouse's insurance would not pay anything at this time. 3. Q. My daughter is pregnant, will my insurance cover her on maternity? A. No. It covers only employee or spouse on maternity. wisely and in more cost-effective ways. These services are provided for in Clin ton's Group Health Insurance Plan. Outpatient Surgery... Clinton Group Health Insurance Plan provides hospital benefits for outpatient surgery performed in a hospital's outpatient department or ambulatory center, and no deductible is required. In effect, the plan will pay 100 percent of the reasonable and customary charges by the surgeon for surgical procedures performed in the out-patient department of a hospitals ambulatory surgical center. A number of surgical procedures considered too serious to perform in a doctor's office, but not serious enough to warrant admission to a hospital are' now being performed on an outpatient basis or in the ambulatory surgical centers. This can result in a very significant reduction in costs. Some operations that can be performed on a one-day basis include tonsillectomies, simple hernia repairs, vasectomies, removal of noncancerous cysts, some cosmetic surgery, minor gynecological procedures, even cataracts. In addition to saving money, outpatient and ambulatory surgery can free hospital beds for persons more seriously ill. In fact, the development of ambulatory surgical centers may be an alternative to expansion of inpatient facilities in areas where there is needed for additional capacity. Many procedures can be per formed in the facilities available in Laurens County. Pre-admission Testing... While everyone would like to avoid hospital confinement, this is, of course, impossible. However, we can try to shorten the time and money spent in the hospital through pre-admission testing. Pre-admission testing means providing certain services such as X- rays and laboratory tests on an Insurance payable to beneficiary Your life insurance is payable to your beneficiaiy in the event of your death while you are insured under the plan. You may name anyone as your beneficiary and you may change your beneficiary at any time by completing a change of beneficiary form. It is important this information be kept current. If you would like to know who you have named as your beneficiary, you may do so. However, to assure absolute confidence, this cannot be handled by telephone and can only be released to the insured. You must come by your personnel office and an insurance co-ordinator will be glad to share this information with you and make changes if necessary. You may also want to check on your medical coverage to make sure your eligible dependents are covered, and you are not paying premiums for ineligible dependents. outpatient basis prior to a scheduled hospital admission. Until recently, it was common practice to hospitalize patients for these test, thus increasing the length of time spent in the hospitaL Pre-admission testing is especially appropriate in case of elective surgery when a battery of presurgical tests are required, with testing done in a hospital's outpatient facilities. Pre-admission testing programs offer the potential for reducing both the cost per hospital admission and time lost from work... be sure and ask your doctor if and when the need arises. Pre admission testing performed on an out patient basis prior to hospital confinement will be covered at 100 percent if such testing is performed within five days confinement. In Conclusion... Outpatient surgery, pre-admission testing and use of the diagnostic examinations benefits are just a few of the ways Clinton employees and their dependents can help reduce the cost of health care, both for themselves and for their company. Be sure to discuss with your physician these ideas, and do your part in insuring that you have the best possible health care at the lowest possible cost. 9 ill ClothMaker