The pdf versions are only available to members of the CLN.  Which makes it more difficult to share them with people like church treasurers who may need to see them.

However with the mail starting back up the issue will resolve itself--this time

Gord, they can all be printed.

For the record, church treasurers and payroll administrators SHOULD be part of the CLN (they are in leadership as lay volunteers, after all!).

For heaven's sake, don't bother printing them; the mail is now moving slowly through the system (thankfully!).  The posting was an effort to keep everyone in the loop, since we had promised more information before the end of June.

If your treasurers or board members AREN'T members of CLN, please encourage them to join! There are 1700+ members (almost 1750) on CLN now.  Also, ADP forms that can't be posted on the internet are available there.

http://churchleadership.united-church.ca

Given the somewhat freeflowing discussion between members of the Order of Ministry that happens on CLN, I would be somewhat reluctant to include our church treasurer.

Then, DKS, perhaps you need a 'private group' for ministry personnel... Oh! wait! there is one!

Please encourage your treasurers, church board members, worship, sunday school, and any and all other leaders in your pastoral charges, congregations, ministry sites, etc. to join Church Leadership Network.

That's probably too late. The instructions on CLN are somewhat obtuse. A confidential reflection on disability insurance was posted in the public area last week and my attempt to e-mail Joe to have it removed failed as e-mail wasn't working. The ability to edit or remove posts is "moderator only", a limitation that takes us back twenty years. Again, I can't recommend CLN currently.

Too bad, DKS.  Its limitations are many, certainly, but its utility outweighs those.

btw: contact Ministry@united-church.ca not Joe. He's on vacation.

I've heard from my contact in Cardinal (Cornwall, ON) area: he has received both his pension statement AND the Benefits Centre Welcome Package. 

Hurray!

We anticipate the information will start landing in mailboxes across the denomination today and in the coming weeks. 

If you don't have your package by August, give the Benefits Centre a call:

1-866-859-5025

My pension statement arrived Monday. The Benefits Centre Welcome Pack is yet to appear.

OK, so I called the new benefit centre to make some changes following the arrival of my 2010 Benefit Statement. One of the changes is something I have been trying to do for the last fifteen years, without success. The change was made in about 30 seconds. What they could not do, however, was change my postal code! Seems the only one who can do that is the church treasurer... sigh...

Got my package today. Unfortunately, once I've logged in, the site doesn't want to work with my browser (Chrome). I'll boot up FireFox tomorrow and see what there is to see. :)

r

Pension statement has arrived (April 1 2034 for regular retirement).   But my copy of the package has not yet.  I think the Office Admin's did though so mine can't be far behind

Good to know that things are finally arriving!

Richard: I've heard that the site works BEST with Internet Explorer (sorry to all who just groaned).  Do let me know how it works with other browsers, as I'm sure I'll get LOTS of feedback on that. (!)

DKS: We had to make some rules around the addresses, because ADPs file transfer will overwrite any changes on the AON Hewitt systems.  Treasurers have to make any address updates: either via a New/Change Employee Sheet faxed to ADP, or by contacting the Benefits Centre directly (if ADP is not used).

Even if you don't have your package yet, you can call or go online with the Benefits Centre:

Call 1-866-859-5025

Member Site (Your Benefits Resource:YBR) : www.ybrcanada.hewitt.com/ucc

(go to "Register as a New User")

Treasurer or administrator Site: www.ybrcanada.hewitt.com/uccadmin

Our treasurer's packet arrived in yesterday's mail.

I can log in via Firefox but not in IE.  Everytime I try (having doublechecked both member ID and password) I get an unauthorized message.  Since I need to a) correct some information -- for some reason they list all my dependents as covered under another plan as well as mine which is odd since my partner does not work outside the home and b) print off dental claim forms in preparation for appointments for the girls later this month and can't find a way to do either on the pages I am seeing through FF I was hoping I might find other links on IE

You can download the forms from the Green Shield web site. But perhaps your dentist can submit the claim electronically. No paper forms and the money comes back in about 3 days.

Couldn't get to them on Green Shield either.  But apparently I was more organized than I thought last time---I had saved a copy of the pdf to my hard drive

I think you need to be registered with GS to get the custom forms, but the generic forms are here:

http://www.greenshield.ca/English/PlanMembers/Forms/

My dentist submits the claim electronically. I pay the dentist by credit card and I have the money in about 48 to 72 hours in my bank account. My dentist even fills out the second payer (my wife has family coverage, as well, from her employer) form and I submit them by mail.  The drug store handles the co-ordination of benefits directly and electronically, so I only pay any deductible for prescriptions. Most of the time it's nothing.  

Any dentist we have ever used direct bills Green Shield, and then sends us a bill for things that were not covered. 

Lucky you. None of my dentists have ever done business that way. Mind you, I know before I leave the office exactly what the insurance company is paying.

The benefits package arrived today and I tested the web site out. It's not bad. The changes I had requested yesterday were reflected in the profile. The retirement calculator was useless, however. It would not accept the date I inputted and could not calculate anything. To be fair, other plans which have similar calculators often don't work, either. Nor did the old web site one.

The dates should work, unless your retirement date takes you past age 71, but I will mention it to our Aon Hewitt contacts.

This is wonderful news. I was wondering just when, if ever, anyone would get any benefit out of the United Church of Canada. A ha ha ha. A ha ha ha ha. I kill me.

You did. You have said yourself that you once attended Islington United Church.

Hi MorningCalm,

You routinely use WonderCafe to deningrate the United Church of Canada.  It would appear that you get the benefit of the ability to amuse yourself at our expense.

Small things eh?

Grace and peace to you.

John

Yes, good point DKS. Also Elk Point United, and the churches of the New Mills Pastoral Charge. Not to mention St. Paul's United Church, Fredericton, NB, at which I was paedobaptized.

Then you have already have received benefits and blessings from the United Church of Canada.

DKS wrote: "the United Church of Canada"

*The Squirrel records in the book of life that DKS used the lower case with the definite article...what's next...abbreviating to UCC?

UCC? Nope. That's the United Church of Christ. George Conklin grabbed that domain for the United Church of Christ's Office of Communication in the early 1990's. About the same time Peg Perry, national's IT director and I developed the naming convention for the United Church of Canada, which was uccan.org. The United Church owns the top level domains uccan.org, .com and .ca. The conferences were given a separate syntax; marconf.org for Maritime Conference, hamconf for Hamilton and so on (both of which are still in use). Problems with spam prompted, I am told, the change to united-church.ca. The national office is sub-letting the church e-mail and IT function, which is why several conferences now lose their specific domain and are migrating to united-church.ca. But it will never be ucc.

 EZ is correct, however, that 'the' in The United Church of Canada requires a capital 't': The United Church of Canada, the United Church, the church. (style guide geek)

DKS wrote: "UCC? Nope. That's the United Church of Christ."

EZ Answer: Under the category of "If I have to explain it to you, it's not funny": DKS never forgets the capital "T" in The United Church of Canada, and he knows the proper abbreviation is UCCan. Ergo, the humour's internal logic: by suggesting the possibility of the latter error, I highlight the rarity of the former error with you.  Again, if I have to explain it...

No, it's not funny...

And style guides are exactly that... style guides...

I thought it was funny.

To each their own.

David l= it was funny

*The Squirrel was taught the "T" rule and "UCCan" abbreviation by DKS some years ago.

As I said, "to each their own". As for the Book of Life, I shall trust my record at the time of judgement.

I don't understand what's happened here. Has the Benefits Centre gone in-house or has it moved to another contract provider?

Another contract provider. AON HEwitt

I am 99% sure it will never go back in house.

Mother and Gord: Correct! The new service provider is Aon Hewitt, and yes! barring an unforeseen event, there is little chance that work will move back to church house for many reasons that boil down to, simply, money.

The service provider is able to administer the pension and benefits databases far more efficiently that the church can now, because of: technology (money), expertise (money), training (money), legal compliance, privacy,...you get the picture.

The Ministry and Employment unit oversees the work of the service providers of the church, and remains as the best place to call if there are questions or comments about service you do receive from those service providers: 1-800-268-3781, ext 3161!

Martha, I am having my 2010 medical expenses queried by the CRA. I need a receipt for all health insurance premiums paid  (including my own health care premiums as listed on my T4), the 8% sales tax and the Pensioner premium contribution. Who provides that? And I need it in 21 days.

MArtha,

apparently when my eldest was at the dentist back in October some things (my research into code numbers indicates they are: X-rays, 1 unit of time polishing and flouride) were not allowed as covered. {obviously the dental office was not terribly concerned about their lack of payment since they made no attempt to notify us of these things until all three girls went for a check-up and cleaning this morning}.  My partner insists that the October appointment was 9 months after the last time she was in (I have no idea). Who do I call to check on this?

GordW, are there two dental plans involved in coverage for your family? If so, I can possibly give you some insight into the situation.

Nope.  My partner does not work outside the home.  And even when she did she was self-employed and so had no plan.

 From my reading and research at lunch I think it is a timing problem.  But as I said, I have no idea when they were last at the dentist before we moved.

Gord, check the Green Shield web site. It will all be there. You will have to register.

I tried to register last week.  No success

You could phone Green Shield directly - that's what my SO did when we ran into problems. They were quite helpful. Of course, you'll need to have your member number ready when you call.

Click here for the Contact Us page for Green Shield Canada