CURRENT NEWS

May, 2011

Greetings from cold and rainy Eastern Washington. As with many regions of the nation, the Inland Northwest is experiencing non-traditional, unusual weather. The lawns and trees are very green as a result of above normal rain fall.

Maggie Haverfield (Area 7 Director, Unit 81 President) and Donald Cain (Area 7 Asst. Director) are planning to make visits to Western Washington and Idaho Units. We are negotiating for a visit by a representative from Palmetto GBA to Units in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. It is anticipated that a schedule for July meetings will be  announced soon. It is expected that these meetings will provide valuable information regarding Medicare and related health issues.

Please contact the National Secretary's office with any ideas or suggestions pertaining to your Unit or the NARVRE organization. Membership recruitment and awareness of the benefits of the NARVRE organization are paramount at this time.

FALL, 2010

Unit #81 members recently participated in two fund raising efforts. 1) Several members gave of their time and effort to volunteer at some vendor booths at the Spokane Interstate Fair, Sept. 10-19. We applaud these members for their civic pride and interest.

2) Area 7 Director and Unit #81 President Maggie Haverfield was joined by 4 other members of Unit 81, to travel to Sprague, WA to sell cookies and coffee at the I-90 eastbound Sprague Lake rest area. Their efforts netted the Unit about $300. This has been an annual event for several years and it is expected to continue. Thanks to all those members that gave of their time and personal expense to make this a successful event.

The Area 7 Director Maggie Haverfield and Asst. Area Director Donald Cain met with National President Tom Dwyer and Moody Law Representative AW "Whitey" Westphal in Richland, WA Wednesday June 2 to moderate an informational meeting, introducing NARVRE to about 20 attendees. The ongoing effort of NARVRE to raise the level of awareness to railroad retirees across the nation is facilitated by arranging for publicizing such meetings. The goal is to form new Units in communities that have large populations of retired and veteran railroaders. The Tri-Cities (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland), WA is a perfect example. We were very encouraged by the response of some of those whom attended. While there are currently not enough new members to be able to form a Unit, we will continue to outreach to this community.

NARVRE Unit #81 arranged for a presence at the annual convention of the NPRHA (Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association) that was held in Spokane, WA July 14-18. Informational materials, as well as membership applications, were given to those current or retired railroaders that visited the NARVRE table. While the majority of NPRHA members are historians or modelers, it has been decided that we should take every opportunity to outreach to the community, rails and non-rails alike

Unit #81

Scheduled meetings are the first Wednesday of each month (except July & August) 11:30a, at the Old Country Buffet, Franklin Park Mall, the corner of N Division and Rowan in Spokane, WA. We typically entertain approximately 60 members, providing information regarding Railroad Retirement, Medicare and current Congressional legislation pertaining to retirees and the railroad industry.

Important Message

Railroad retirement annuities, like social security benefits, will not increase in January 2010 as there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the third quarter of last year to the corresponding period of the current year.

Also, because there is no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), social security law prohibits an increase in the amounts social security and railroad retirement beneficiaries subject to earnings restrictions can earn in 2010 without having their benefits reduced.

For those under full retirement age throughout 2010, the exempt earnings amount remains at $14,160. For beneficiaries attaining full retirement age in 2010, the exempt earnings amount, for the months before the month full retirement age is attained, remains at $37,680 in 2010.

For employee and spouse annuitants, full retirement age ranges from age 65 for those born before 1938 to age 67 for those born in 1960 or later. For survivor annuitants, full retirement age ranges from age 65 for those born before 1940 to age 67 for those born in 1962 or later.

Special work restrictions continue to be applicable to disability annuitants in 2010. The monthly disability earnings limit will increase to $780 in 2010 from $770 in 2009.

Regardless of age and/or earnings, no railroad retirement annuity is payable for any month in which an annuitant (retired employee, spouse or survivor) works for a railroad employer or railroad union.

The Department of Health and Human Services has not yet announced if there will be any Medicare premium changes for 2010. Information about Medicare changes for 2010, when available, will be found at

TOLL FREE NUMBER RAILROAD RETIREMENT

Prepared by Public Affairs 312-751-4777

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) announced that an additional 18 field offices will be added to its nationwide toll-free telephone service by the end of January 2009. A single toll-free number
(1-877-772-5772/1-877-RRB-5RRB) will provide RRB customers with easy access to the agency's field offices. In addition, the new toll-free number will offer options for self-service through automated menus and automatic routing of calls to claims representatives in nearby offices during emergency and peak periods.

The additional 18 offices are Kansas City and St. Louis, MO; Nashville, TN; Louisville, KY; Scranton, Harrisburg, Altoona, and Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore, MD; Denver, CO; Albuquerque, NM; Omaha, NE; Wichita, KS; Billings, MT; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; and Bellevue and Spokane, WA.

Twelve of the RRB's 53 field offices participated in the initial implementation of nationwide toll-free telephone service during November and December 2008. Those 12 field offices were St. Paul and Duluth, MN; Fargo, ND; Des Moines, IA; Jacksonville and Tampa, FL; Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Oakland, Sacramento and Covina, CA; and Mesa, AZ.

Nationwide toll-free telephone service will be implemented in the remaining 23 RRB field locations by March 2009. Until then, RRB customers who reside outside of the service areas covered by these 30 offices should continue to use the telephone number for the field office providing service to their area. Customers can get these numbers by calling the automated RRB Help Line at 1-800-808-0772 or by visiting the RRB's Web site at www.rrb.gov.