State Hosts Retiree Medicare Advantage Insurance Seminars Across Illinois

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) has scheduled a series of informational seminars over the next several weeks during the State’s Medicare Advantage plan open enrollment period. The seminars are for state of Illinois retirees and survivors that have Medicare coverage and are also enrolled in, or eligible for, the Total Retiree Advantage Illinois (or TRAIL) Program.  The TRAIL Open Enrollment Period will be held October 15th through November 15th, 2014. The first two seminars are scheduled for October 14th in Rockford and DeKalb.

Participants eligible for the TRAIL Program are retirees (also called annuitants) and survivors under the State Employees Group Insurance Program, the Teachers’ Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) and the College Insurance Program (CIP).  Medicare-eligible members of these retirement groups who want to learn more about the Medicare Advantage plans offered under the TRAIL Program may attend one of the informational seminars. 
The seminars are designed to help Medicare-eligible retirees and their families make decisions regarding their healthcare coverage for the 2015 plan year, which begins January 1st, 2015.   

Following are the details of the seminars in Rockford and DeKalb:

Rockford:
Giovanni’s
610 N. Bell School Road
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

DeKalb:
Northern Illinois University
Holmes Student Center – Sandburg Auditorium
340 Carroll Avenue
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

The seminars are open to all impacted state retirement system members and their dependents, regardless of the plan they are covered under.  These seminars will cover information for the following:

• State of Illinois Medicare Annuitants and Survivors. This program provides medical, prescription drug, vision, dental and life insurance benefits for certain former elected officials and their employees, as well as retirees of state agencies, boards, commissions, and universities.

• Teachers’ Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) Medicare Annuitants and Survivors. This program provides medical and prescription drug insurance benefits for annuitants receiving a monthly benefit or annuity from the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) who prior to retiring, were an employee of an Illinois school district.

• College Insurance Program (CIP) Medicare Annuitants and Survivors. This program provides medical, prescription drug, vision and dental insurance benefits for annuitants receiving a monthly benefit or annuity from the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) who prior to retiring, were an employee of an Illinois community college.

For more information about TRAIL and the seminars, visit: www.cms.illinois.gov/thetrail

The Illinois Department of Central Management Services provides a broad range of programs and services to state agencies and the public. These include human resources and employee benefits, information technology and telecommunications, property and facilities management, procurement and business diversity, vehicle fleet management, and media and marketing.