Local 2195 January Meeting Planned
Local 2195 Plans January Meeting
LOCAL 2195 UAW
RETIREE, MEETING, JANUARY 12, 2026
Monday 11:00 am
Post 15 American Legion, Decatur, AL
Happy New Year. We hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas with their family and friends. Let us all remember, Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of Jesus Christ.
It is said that time flies. It seems like we just started 2025 not very long ago, and here we are beginning the New Year 2026.
We will have some of our healthcare providers at this meeting: Blue Cross, UnitedHealthcare, and Optum, the provider for our mail-order prescriptions. If you have any problems, this would be a good opportunity to address your issue.
Our Over-the-Counter Card will be reloaded starting January 1, 2026. The Card will provide $400 for you and $400 for your spouse to be used in the year 2026.
The HRA Card will also be reloaded to provide $1000 of coverage for you and a dependent for the year 2026.
I have talked with several of our members or their spouses who are not taking advantage of these terrific benefits. Unfortunately, they stand to lose any unused portion for the 2025 calendar year coverage. The 2025 Over-the-Counter is gone if you don't use it by the end of the year.
The HRA benefit still has a window where you may be able to recover a portion of your or your spouse's Medicare Part B.
The 2025 year in review. The economy has been very troubling for so many Americans we all know prices are outrageous. The House of Representatives' failure to support the middle and working class with the budget Bill has caused serious issues regarding over 25 million Americans' access to affordable health care. Trump's chaotic tariff policies have destroyed the credibility of the United States with many of our trusted long-time foreign allies. The tariffs, we all know is nothing more than a tax on the consumer, you and I. Our military, Department of Defense, has been placed under the leadership of a very immature person who has proven himself to be more incompetent than was first demonstrated in his Senate confirmation hearing, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Our Department of Justice has been turned it a department of injustice and a personal department of retribution for President Trump. Secretary Pam Bondi has been nothing short of acting like a criminal attorney for the Mafia. Under her leadership and the direction of President Trump, they are continuing a failed operation of providing the total disclosure of the Jeff Epstein files, the known criminally convicted pedophile, while providing honeymoon accommodations for Epstein's partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.
I hope you have been keeping up with the number of criminals that President Trump has been commuting sentences and handing out pardons like he was giving away candy at Halloween. (of course, for the right price.)
We have lost several members since our last meeting, as well as our members losing family members. December seems to bring a lot of joy, but there are a lot of heartaches and sadness with the loss of so many loved ones.
Once again I wish everyone a New Year filled with good health and happiness for you and your loved ones.
I want to point out how fortunate our Retirees are. We have the total package of benefits we enjoy. Included healthcare, pension, Social Security, and Medicare. We live at a standard most can only dream about.
There is an old saying that many ignore:
IT DOESN'T COST, IT PAYS TO BE A MEMBER OF A UNION.
In Solidarity,
Chuck McDonald
256-874-0850