It has been a solid 40 days since the 2017/18 State Budget was passed and there is a projected shortfall of $208 million by the end of the fiscal year.  The $208M represents more than 1% of the budget and therefore triggers budget mitigation authority to the Governor.  The Governor has limits on his authority to perform line-item budget rescissions but has a wide-array of tools to limit spending.  The Governor will be enacting mitigation steps soon.  

From our perspective, one of the silliest  things the state is spending money on is an electronic "time and attendance" system.  The "Kronos"

A&R is proud to have once again participated with Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity.  For a third year in a row, A&R's members stepped forward, volunteering their time (and sweat equity) to help improve living conditions in our community.

A&R's 2017 Habitat for Humanity build particpants were: Vicky Bullock, John DiSette, Mike Myles, Ally Sexton, Lisa Smith, and Mike Smith.

Humanity Hartford is dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating, and preserving homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training

Remember: we are conducting a toy drive at the Holiday Party in conjunction with the United Labor Agency.  The United Labor Agency Toy Drive directly benefits labor families in need.

Every year our labor family comes together to ensure that families in need have a happier holiday season. It is a testament to the generosity of our labor family that as the need has grown, so has the support for this event.

PLEASE BRING AN UNWRAPPED TOY WITH YOU TO THE HOLIDAY PARTY

Hartford Healthcare and Anthem have come to an agreement!  The agreement is retroactive to October 1st so the additional charges that wouldn’t have applied will be reversed.  Anthem participants may once again fully utilize Hartford Healthcare doctors and facilities.  

The next step is to see if we can extend the HEP requirement deadline beyond December 31^st for Anthem participants.

-11/18/17

REGISTRATION FOR THE HOLIDAY PARTY CLOSED as of 11/21/2017
Due to the delay in receiving the quarterly A&R Update (which includes the registration form for the Holiday Party), the deadline to submit the mail-in registration and the deadline for walk-in registration are both Tuesday November 21st.  This is an extension of the mail-in deadline by one week. 

Remember: we are also conducting a toy drive at the Holiday Party in conjunction with the United Labor Agency, so please bring an unwrapped toy with you to the Holiday Party.

If you are in need of assistance and would like to request toys from the toy drive, please fill out the attached Toy Request Form and contact ULA directly (not A&R)

Some confusion/clarification related to Healthcare:

Preferred Provider List: 
There are 2 tiers of in-network doctors: Tier 1 (waives the normal $15 co-pay) and Tier 2 (normal $15 co-pay is charged).  The only difference is whether the co-pay is waived or not.

To find out if a doctor is Tier 1 or Tier 2, link to the Anthem search-page of doctors or UnitedHealthcare search-page

Site-of-Service:
This is a little trickier.  When lab work or radiological imaging is needed, the insurance plan wants to push this work to "non-hospital" sites when practical.  This means, if you need an MRI or blood work