FAQs

You may be able to maintain your eligibility for benefits through this Fund while working in other local union jurisdictions. However, the health, welfare or insurance fund in that other jurisdiction must send contributions back to this Fund. The Fund's Trustees have adopted the Reciprocal Agreement sponsored by the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, otherwise known as the International Reciprocity Agreement.

Here's how it works:

• You are a member of Local15 or Local 424 and eligible to receive benefits from the Fund.
• If you find work in another area, it must be with an Employer that has a collective bargaining agreement with another Iron Workers' local union that requires the Employer to make contributions to the health, welfare or insurance fund for that area.
• That health, welfare or insurance fund must also participate in the International Reciprocity Agreement, making it a Cooperating Fund.
• Because you are a Local15 or Local424 member and you are eligible for benefits from the Fund, the Iron Workers' Local No. 15 and 424 Extended Benefit Fund is considered your Home Fund.
• If you are not eligible yet for benefits from the Fund, then your Home Fund will be the Cooperating Fund that has received the largest amount of contributions on your behalf over the past 12 months.

There are two forms of reciprocity so that you can continue to receive benefits:

• Point of Claim
  • Under Point of Claim, if you are working in a different jurisdiction than your Home Fund:
    • You continue to file all benefit claims with your Home Fund as long as you remain eligible in your Home Fund. This applies even if you are working in the jurisdiction of a Cooperating Fund when filing the claim.
    • If you are no longer eligible in your Home Fund, but are eligible for benefits in another Cooperating Fund, your claim for benefits is filed with that Cooperating Fund.
    • If you are not eligible in your Home Fund or any other Cooperating Fund, your claim is filed with your Home Fund.
    • Your Home Fund then contacts the other Cooperating Funds in the jurisdictions where you have been working to determine whether a transfer of contributions will reinstate your eligibility in the Home Fund for the time of the claim.
• Money Follows The Man
  • Under Money Follows The Man, if you are working in a different jurisdiction than your Home Fund:
    • You may file a request with the Cooperating Fund before you begin working in that jurisdiction to transfer contributions to your Home Fund on your behalf.
    • The transfer request must be in writing and you must sign and date it.
    • To have all your hours transferred, you must sign the transfer request before you start working in another jurisdiction - only hours worked after the date on your signed request will transferred.
    • You must submit the request no later than 60 days of starting work in that jurisdiction.
    • If you do not file the request on time, the Point of Claim provisions will apply.

You must notify the Iron Workers' Locals No. 15 and 424 Extended Benefit Fund when you are working in another jurisdiction.

The Fund Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Pension Credits are units used to compute your total length of employment for all Contributing Employers for the purpose of determining the amount of your pension. There are two types of Pension Credits: Past Service Pension Credits and Future Service Pension Credits.

Past Service Pension Credits are for work performed before July 1, 1956. For more information about Past Service Credits, please contact the Fund Office.

Future Service Pension Credits are awarded for service performed after July 1, 1956. If you worked in Covered Employment between July 1, 1956 and June 30, 2008, you received Future Service Pension Credits as determined under the Plan provisions that existed at the relevant time.

Here is the current schedule of Future Service Pension Credits, which has been in effect since July 1, 2008:

The following types of pensions are available under the Plan:

• Normal Pension
• Service Pension
• Early Retirement Pension
• Disability Pension (either Total Disability or Occupational Disability)
• Vested Pension

You can read about these options on this website, in your SPD, or you can call the Fund Office.

You can change your beneficiary information at any time before you start collecting a pension. In some cases, you may need your Spouse’s consent to change the beneficiary.

If you get divorced or separated after your Joint and Survivor Payments begin, your former Spouse will still receive benefits when you die, unless your former Spouse consents in writing or a Qualified Domestic Relations Order provides otherwise.

Under certain circumstances, the Plan allows you to take up to 50% of contributions (excluding earnings, and factoring any amounts which may have been assigned from your Account to an alternate payee under a valid QDRO and/or distributed to you in any prior distributions from the Plan) allocated to your Account after July 1, 1990 as an "In-Service Distribution" or "ISD."

To be eligible for an ISD, you must be an Active Participant in the Plan and:

1. You have been a Participant in the Plan for at least five consecutive years on or after July 1, 1990; or
2. If you have been a Participant for less than five consecutive years under the rule in A, above, the amount you seek as an ISD relates to contributions that have been accumulating in your Account for at least two years; or
3. You present suitable proof to the Plan that you have been called to active duty in the Military Service.

Your Plan Account is valued daily, and MassMutual has set up a toll-free number and website for you to use to find out the applicable value. Written reports detailing the activity in your Account will be sent to you at least quarterly. You can also elect to receive electronic reports instead.

Contact the Fund’s insurance partner to request an ID card. You may also be able to print one out from their website.

The Fund has an hours requirement for initial eligibility and for continuing eligibility. See the Extended Benefit Plan Eligibility section for more detailed information.

No, the Fund Office may need to verify your hours worked. You may need to provide pay stubs to verify that you’re working and maintaining hours. Please contact the Fund Office if you have questions about your eligibility.

We are sure you have heard and read about the federal health care law which was enacted into law in 2010, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or "ACA."  The ACA is one of the most sweeping laws to impact our Extended Benefit Fund because it affects many of our rules.  Here are some of the ACA alterations made:

• The Fund now provides dependent coverage for married or unmarried adult children to the last day of the month that includes their 26th birthday;
• The Fund no longer imposes an annual dollar limit on what the ACA defines as "essential health benefits";
• The Fund no longer imposes any pre-existing condition exclusions (i.e., exclusions for a medical condition and/or health problem that existed before the date the individual enrolled in the Extended Benefit Fund); and
• The Fund now provides participants with an annual "Summary of Benefits and Coverage" or SBC, which is a uniform summary of benefits, using standardized definitions and government-approved language.

For 2014 and later, the ACA generally requires all individuals (and any dependents of the individual) to maintain "minimum essential coverage" (MEC) or they must pay a penalty to the IRS which is the greater of a flat dollar amount or a percentage of household income.  The Extended Benefit Fund's coverage currently satisfies the MEC requirement, so maintaining Extended Benefit Fund coverage helps you avoid this IRS penalty.

Starting in 2015, the ACA requires us to obtain Social Security Numbers (SSNs).  To document the fact that covered individuals have health coverage which complies with the ACA's "individual mandate," the Fund is required to report various information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including:

1. the first and last name of each covered member and all dependents (spouse and qualifying child(ren) up to age 26),
2. the SSNs of each individual, and
3. the number of months that each individual had coverage through the Fund.

Providing us with this information will help you avoid potential tax penalties when you file your tax returns with the IRS.

The Fund offers benefits for Pre-Medicare and Medicare-eligible retirees and their covered dependents. See the Retiree Benefits section for more detailed information.

Yes, you can. You must contact the Fund Office. The Fund Office will let you know what forms you need to fill out and the documentation you must provide as proof.

Yes, you can. You must contact the Fund Office. The Fund Office will let you know what forms you need to fill out and the documentation you must provide as proof.

Yes, you can enroll your child for coverage as long as you can provide a birth certificate that lists you as the father of the child. Remember that your girlfriend, however, is not covered. She needs to be your Spouse to be eligible for coverage.

Yes. You need to supply a copy of your legal separation document to the Fund Office. A legal separation is considered a termination event, like a divorce.

You can continue your coverage for as long as you have hours in your hours bank. You can contact the Fund Office to verify your hours bank. When your hours bank runs out, you have the option of enrolling for COBRA Continuation Coverage on a self-pay basis for up to 18 months. Call the Fund Office for more information about COBRA Continuation Coverage.

Their coverage will continue for as long as you remain eligible. See your SPD for more detailed information.