Amweld retirees blindsided by insurance cancellation

Without their knowledge, former Amweld employees’ health coverage was stopped Jan. 1.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

The tears of a Weathersfield Township woman sum up the pain and confusion that a group of area residents are living through.

In the past two weeks, retirees from Amweld Building Products in Niles were surprised to find out that their health insurance was canceled as of Jan. 1. They were shocked again on Monday when some of them received bills from the insurer that demanded reimbursement for payments made on their behalf since the first of the year.

Meanwhile, premiums continue to be deducted from their pensions for health insurance that doesn’t exist.

Aetna, the insurer, says the retirees should talk to their former employer to clear up the matter. The retirees say they can’t find anyone to talk to because the company was sold.

It’s enough to make someone such as Sharon Kovach cry.

Her husband, Bob Kovach, 64, of Weathersfield, landed in St. Joseph Health Center in Warren on March 1.

His blood pressure had spiked to 270/140, and he needed six days in the hospital — including four days in intensive care ­— until he was healthy again.

The Amweld retiree and his wife thought they had insurance until the hospital called Sharon on March 2 and said that Aetna denied coverage. She called her husband’s doctor, who advised her not to tell him the bad news while he was in intensive care.

So she sat at home alone with the thought of medical bills worth tens of thousands of dollars.

“I just sat here for about two hours and cried,” she said.

Meanwhile, other retirees began hearing of Kovach’s story or were meeting with their own denials. Sam Glunt, 64, of Lordstown went to pick up a prescription and learned that he no longer had coverage.

Jon Powell, 61, of Howland heard about what was happening and quickly checked his pension statements. As of March 1, he still was having $770 deducted from his $1,342 monthly pension for health care.

He called Aetna, which said his insurance was canceled Jan. 1. He asked for confirmation and received a letter Saturday.

Other retirees such as Kovach and Glunt haven’t received a letter and don’t know what to do.

Powell has gone on his wife’s insurance, but he still wants to know why he is paying $770 a month for insurance that doesn’t exist.

“Someone has $2,300 that belongs to me,” he said.

The retirees said their former employer had been paying $110 a month toward the insurance, and they paid the rest. It was expensive, but it was still cheaper than coverage they could get on their own, they said.

Powell said he called the bank that handles the pension account and was informed that they have not been told to stop making deductions.

He was even more confused when he received a new insurance card last week from Aetna. Why did he receive a new card if he didn’t have insurance, he wondered.

Aetna’s first communication to many of the retirees came Monday. Instead of an explanation, Aetna sent them invoices for money the insurers had spent on their health care in January and February.

Kovach’s bill is for $885. Powell received an invoice for $320.

Ray Wilson, 66, a retiree from North Jackson, hadn’t received an invoice but is worried. He is covered by Medicare but his wife is not. She is receiving a medication that costs $1,000 a month.

“I can’t afford that. How am I going to live?” Wilson asked.

Meanwhile, the Kovaches are breathing a sigh of relief over their bill at St. Joseph.

The day after Sharon Kovach was told her husband didn’t have insurance, hospital officials told her they were waiving the entire cost of the stay because of the couple’s income level.

“I just cried again,” his wife said.

Plus, hospital officials said they would use a special fund to pay for two months of medication for Bob.

“I was overwhelmed by what they did for us,” Sharon Kovach said.

It is the responsibility of the employer to notify workers and retirees of benefit changes, said Cynthia Michener, a spokeswoman for Aetna.

The insurer didn’t even know there were any changes until Feb. 26, she said. Amweld International notified Aetna that it had taken over the Amweld operations but would not be providing insurance to retirees.

Aetna had not received any premium payments for retirees since Jan. 1, so it made the cancellation retroactive to that date, Michener said.

Aetna doesn’t know what happened to the premiums collected on behalf of the retirees, she said.

Amweld International issued a press release Jan. 10 that said it bought the assets of Ark II Manufacturing, which had been the parent company of Amweld Building Products. Amweld International said its purchase followed a foreclosure and public sale of Ark II’s assets.

In 2007, Ark II closed Amweld Building plants in Niles and Garrettsville and moved production of metal doors and frames to Mexico.

A woman answering the phone for Amweld International said that company has nothing to do with Ark II’s operation. It bought the assets and brands but is a different company, she said.

She declined to give her name or pass along a message to a person in authority with the company. Messages left with human resources officials at the company were not returned.

On its Web site, Amweld International lists a billing office in North Jackson and a distribution center in Texas.

The retirees said they haven’t been able to reach anyone with Amweld International and haven’t been able to locate executives who handled human resources for Ark II.

The retirees have contacted the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, for help. Staffers are trying to reach officials with the U.S. Department of Labor and are working with the United Steelworkers of America to find a solution, said Pat Lowry, a spokesman for Ryan.

Gary Steinbeck, a staff representative with the Steelworkers, said he has spoken with the Department of Labor and federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The PBGC is involved because some retirees delayed filing for their pensions, and now they can’t reach anyone at the company to file their documents, he said.

The federal agencies are working to find a contact person for the retirees, he said. The union has lawyers researching how the sale of Ark II’s assets impacts the health care and pensions, he said.

“We’re not quite sure who the responsible party is, but we’ll get this worked out,” he said.

shilling@vindy.com