Current Projects:
Dental Advocacy
Retirement Process Survey

 Dental Advocacy

Retirees hired in 1984 or later and retired prior to 2017 do not have a dental benefit. However, the Dental Program is able to serve such retirees who are active medical retiree members under a fee-for-service arrangement beginning July 1, 2018. Appointments can be made beginning in June for appointments in July or later.  Attached is the update provided at the KaPeRs General Meeting on May 24 which provides instructions on how to set up appointments. Also attached is a sample fee schedule for common procedures to assist those wishing to receive care from the KPNW dental teams.

Material from the May General Member Meeting

Below are links to information presented at the May General Member Luncheon Meeting. Click the link to download to your web browser the PDF documents.

·         Fee-for-Service in KP Dental Offices

·         KP Retiree Dental Benefits Request Situation Overview

January 2019 update

Through the determined efforts of both Kaiser retirees and current KP employees, the organization has agreed to open access within Kaiser to the members of this group who also have active KP medical coverage, on a fee-for-service basis. While this is a positive move, in the right direction, it doesn’t resolve the issue.

The goal is to remove the barriers and allow this group of individuals the same consideration and access as any KP health plan member. To be treated differently than other members, based only on previous employment is disappointing.

Vern Uecker is one of our KaPeRs Special Projects members. He will keep members informed as things progress through the KaPeRs Newsletter. Vern would like to hear from others that have experienced the same frustrations. His email address is: kapersdental@outlook.com

Retirement Process Survey

Members of the KaPeRs Board received feedback from some people about their experience with the KP retirement process. To hear from more of you, we developed a brief survey in August 2018. We encouraged you to respond whether you had a positive or negative experience so we can provide a more complete picture to those who oversee the process.

January 2019 update from Jan Loewen :
Of the 390 survey replies (an amazing number), half of the respondents found the process worked fine; however, various problems have been experienced by the other half.

To address these issues, over the next few months there will be meetings with the NW HR department and the Program office which oversees the contract with the Retirement Center. Jan noted that Ruth Williams-Brinkley, KPNW Regional President, is interested in seeing the comments and suggestions for improvement expressed in the survey, as well as KaPeRs’ data analysis. The final report will be presented at the February 2019 meeting

April 2019 update - Report (click) to be presented at April 10 general meeting.

Photo provided by Jared Chambers