HARRISBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund (PEBTF) today announced enhancements to the current Plan of Benefits for employees and their eligible dependents.
Effective August 1, 2024, employees can enroll in family health benefits (medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and hearing aid benefits) at no additional cost after 30 days (currently 90 days) of employment. Employees continue to be eligible for medical coverage only as of their date of hire.
“The Board is pleased to offer this benefit change to align with Governor Josh Shapiro’s executive order which recently established the Hire, Improve, Recruit, Empower (HIRE) Committee that will continue to build a more competitive Commonwealth workforce,” said Neil Weaver, Chairman of the Board and Commonwealth Secretary of Administration.
Also, effective August 1, 2024, inpatient Hospice will now be covered under the medical benefit. The PEBTF’s dental plan’s network of dentists, provided by United Concordia, will expand to access an additional 1,022 dentists in Pennsylvania through their Elite Plus networks.
“These enhancements are important to fulfilling our mission to provide union members with affordable, quality health and welfare benefits,“ commented Mike Sukal, Secretary of the Board and Administrator of AFSCME Council 13. “Good union jobs go a long way to hiring and retaining the skilled workforce to provide the critical services that Pennsylvanians deserve.”
Additional enhancements to the dental and vision benefits will be effective January 1, 2025. These include the following dental benefit changes: increase the annual plan maximum from $1,500 to $2,000, exclude preventive and diagnostic dental services from the annual plan maximum, increase the orthodontic lifetime maximum from $1,750 to $2,250, and add dental implant coverage at 60% plan allowance.
The vision benefits will also be enhanced: increase the eyeglass frames allowance from $150 to $175, and add coverage for transition lenses at a reimbursement of $65 for single vision and $70 for bifocal/trifocal lenses.
The PEBTF, established in 1988, administers health care benefits to approximately 68,000 eligible Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employees and their dependents. The PEBTF is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised both of Commonwealth and Union representatives.
