Solon

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Solon T h e
The newsletter for members of the General Assembly Retirement System of Illinois
www.state.il.us/srs AUGUST 2008
2101 S. Veterans Parkway
P. O. Box 19255
Springfield, IL 62794-9255
217-782-8500 • Fax: 217-557-5154
STATE
RETIREMENT
SYSTEMS
Active Member Benefit Statements
Enclosed with this edition of the Solon is your annual Benefit State-ment
if you are an active member of the General Assembly. Your GARS
Benefit Statement provides you with a retirement benefit estimate based
on your current actual salary.
Your Benefit Statement also shows any reciprocal service you may
have, along with a retirement benefit estimate at your normal retire-ment
date using the Reciprocal Act. To determine your total benefit,
add the projected GARS benefit to the amount from the reciprocal
system(s).
If your statement shows reciprocal service but no amount, you
either don’t have enough service to utilize the Reciprocal Act, you have
concurrent service with GARS and another system, or you don’t need
the service to qualify for the maximum
benefit.
You can calculate your maximum
benefit by multiplying your current salary
by 85%. This will allow you to compare
your benefit with the maximum benefit.
Although we make every effort to provide
you with an accurate benefit estimate, it is
only an approximation. If you have ques-tions,
contact our office at 217-782-8500.
GARS & Medicare
Our office frequently receives questions
about when to enroll in Medicare and
how their enrollment affects their State
group insurance. The answer depends if
the member is an active legislator or a
GARS retiree.
As an active legislator, your State
insurance is your primary coverage with
Medicare paying secondary. We don’t
recommend an active legislator, age 65 or
older, to enroll in Part B until they retire.
At age 65, all members qualify for
free Medicare Part A, which helps pay
for inpatient care in a hospital or skilled
nursing facility (following a hospital
stay), some home health care and hos-pice
care, regardless if they are retired or
actively employed.
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible,
contact the local Social Security office
two to three months prior to your 65th
birthday.
Also at age 65, everyone is eligible
for Medicare Part B, which helps pay for
doctors’ visits and many other medical
services and supplies that are not covered
by Medicare Part A.
There is a monthly premium for this
coverage. Therefore, we recommend that
only retired GARS members enroll in
Part B of Medicare. As a GARS retiree,
Medicare is your primary insurance, and
your State insurance becomes the supple-mental
coverage.
Retirees age 65 and older who fail to
enroll in Part B will incur a reduction in
their insurance benefits paid by the State
of Illinois!
Benefit Statements
for retirees and
survivors are NOT
included with this
Solon. These state-ments
will be mailed
in March, 2008.
Only active members
receive a statement
with this mailing.
These rules also apply to GARS de-pendents
age 65 and older who are also
covered under the State’s group insur-ance
program.
All members and dependents age 65
and older must send GARS a copy of their
Medicare card to ensure that their insur-ance
information remains up-to-date.
If you have questions about the State
group insurance program or Medicare,
please contact Robin Edgar, the GARS
Insurance Representative at 217-785-6966.
Did You
Know?
The average age for a
GARS member at retire-ment
is almost 60 with
just less than 14 years of
service.
The total number of
GARS retirees is 272.