Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, October 3, 2013

10-3-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:




The in box. Information on CMS dependent verification and Medicare Advantage program.
Information about CMS/HMS dependent verification and the new Medicare Advantage options are slowly coming out. The following went out to members of the SUAA from Linda L. Brookhart, Executive Director, State Universities Annuitants Association, 217 East Monroe Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701, 217.523.4040 Office, 217.523.4044 Fax, 217.553.1091 Cell linda@suaa.org   Mini Briefing October 3,

Live from the Heartland on October 26th.
  On Live from the Heartland with Mike James and Katy Hogan. This is a save-the-date notice. On October 26th my pals Katy Hogan and Mike James have asked me to return to the stage of the Heartland Cafe for their Saturday morning show, LIve from the Heartland. Show up at 9AM and order breakfast. I love their corn bread with my eggs. I was on the show back in December. Mike and Katy had invited me

The in box. Bev Johns on the CMS demands for verification. “Almost every person that received the letter must request an extension from HMS in writing.”
My friend Bev Johns writes me that from the emails she is receiving from retirees around Illinois, it is not clear that a simple copy of your IRS statement will not satisfy the audit by HMS. You can NOT send a copy of the Federal tax return you submitted to IRS.  You MUST request a transcript of your 2012 return from the IRS, but all IRS offices are closed and the 800 numbers do not work. CMS advi

What is the purpose of the state auditing every Illinois retired teacher on TRIP?
  FOIA I filed for all CMS and HMS contracts. What is the purpose of the data dredging audit that Central Management Services (CMS) has hired HMS to do? I posted about this yesterday. My post came after the letter HMS sent to every Illinois retired teacher enrolled in the Teacher Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) demanding proof of dependent eligibility. The self-audit demands that retirees sub
The inbox. IRTA’s Gary Elmen says, “A promise made by an elected body is a promise that must be kept.”
  Illinois Retired Teachers Association President Gary Elmen. Chicago Tribune: Tribune reporters Bob Secter and Rick Pearson nailed it with their examination of the constitutional convention delegates’ intent to safeguard public worker pensions (“Pension crisis rooted in 1970 debate; Guarantee made decades ago stymies legislators’ efforts to break deadlock,” Page 1, Sept. 23). As someone who ha
10-2-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: CMS, HMS and self-audits.I posted yesterday about the letter that was sent to Illinois retirees regarding Teachers Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) eligibility. Central Management Services (CMS) has contracted with a national firm, HMS, that specializes in cost control through audits of members’ cl