Pacific Maritime Association

43 I N D U S T R Y B E N E F I T S In minor ports, at least 240 hours must have been worked or credited in the first half of the preceding payroll year. No port has qualified for Minor Port status for Welfare Plan eligibility pur- poses since the disestablishment of Local 49 in Crescent City. New Registrants: Longshore and clerk registrants who were registered after July 1, 2008 in ports with HMO coverage will be covered by the HMO programs for the first twenty-four months of registration, with no requirement for 400 hours of work for initial eligibility coverage. Additionally, new registrants after July 1, 2008 in ports with no HMO coverage will be covered by the Coastwise Indemnity Plan for the first twenty-four months of eligibility. Thereafter, the Welfare Plan's normal eligibility requirements for continuation of coverage will apply. Pensioners: Most Welfare Plan partici- pants who become pensioners have Welfare Plan eligibility beginning on the day they become pensioners. All disability pensioners have Welfare Plan eligibility. All participants who are registered when they retire on a normal pension with a separation date on or after July 1, 1984 have eligibility except for the following: • Pensioners whose separation date was on or after July 1, 1988, and who accrued fewer than five years of credited pension service, and • Deferred pensioners whose sepa- ration date was before age 55 or whose normal pension benefit has not commenced. Adult Dependent Spouse Survivor: A surviving spouse receiving a survivor pension has Welfare Plan eligibility as well as any qualified dependent children provided that the pension is claimed through a Pensioner who had Welfare Plan eligibility upon death or through an active participant who would have been entitled to Welfare Plan eligibility had retirement occurred on the date of death. Welfare Plan eligibility ends when the adult dependent spouse survivor remarries. Dependent Child Survivor: A deceased pensioner's dependent child has Welfare Plan eligibility as a dependent child survivor for the period that the child receives survivor pension benefits. A deceased active regis- trant's dependent child who is eligible to receive a survivor pension has Welfare Plan eligibility for the period that survivor pension benefits are received. Surviving Dependent Spouse or Child: The dependent spouse or child of a deceased eligible active registrant has Welfare Plan eligibility for four years immediately following the registrant's death. Welfare Plan eligibility ends when the surviving dependent spouse remarries. The four-year limitation is eliminated if the deceased eligible active registrant has five or more pension qualifying years. In such case, the dependent spouse has Welfare Plan eligibility until the spouse remarries, and the dependent child has Welfare Plan eligibility until he or she ceases to be qualified for dependent status. Dependents: The qualified dependent spouse and qualified dependent children of an eligible active registrant or pensioner are eligible for Welfare Plan benefits. Eligibility as a dependent continues as long as the person through whom the dependent claims remains eligible, or until the dependents themselves cease to be qualified for dependent status. Surviving Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Spouse: A surviving spouse of a pensioner who died on or after July 1, 1987, who was married for at least one year at the pensioner's date of death, (and who would have qualified as an adult sur- vivor pensioner under ERISA before the laws were changed in 1984) has welfare plan eligibility. Welfare Plan eligibility ends when a surviving ERISA spouse remarries. Widows' Independent Living Subsidy Program (WILSP) Effective July 1, 1978, the Widows' Independent Living Subsidy Program was implemented as part of the Plan. This program provides a cash subsidy benefit and Medicare supplement benefits. Benefits are available to certain widows of pensioners under the ILWU-PMA Pension Plan who died prior to July 1, 1964, and effective 1982, certain widows of active regis- trants who died prior to July 1, 1975, and satisfied other requirements. Effective September 1, 2007, eligibility was expanded to include certain widows of active registrants who had previously not been eligible to receive benefits under the WILSP. Payment for Benefit Coverage Most benefits are paid directly from the Plan's own assets. The Plan does utilize medical care service providers and insurance companies for some of the benefits covered by the Plan. 43 P A C I F I C M A R I T I M E A S S O C I A T I O N

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