The Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund provides a 401(h) Medicare Benefit to eligible Retirees and their Beneficiaries.

If you qualify, the Plan will pay up to $31 per month for you and $31 per month for your spouse, if applicable, toward the cost of Medicare supplemental coverage or a Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) Plan offered by an eligible provider. The list of Eligible Providers is subject to change. For the current list of Eligible Providers, contact the Fund Office.

When you work in Covered Employment, your Contributing Employer contributes at least a minimum additional amount for your 401(h) benefit, separate from your pension benefits. To be eligible for this benefit you must meet the following conditions:

• You and/or your spouse must submit an application for the 401(h) Medicare Benefit with the Fund The earliest this benefit will begin is the month following receipt of the application.
• You and/or your spouse are eligible for Medicare Part A and Part B.
• You must be in continuous good standing as a “Retired/disabled” member, as provided in the SMART Constitution (limited dues– paying members do not qualify), with your Local Union from the later of your Effective Date or January 1, 2002. Additionally, you must have your Union dues deducted from your monthly pension or disability benefit.
• Your last Employer while working in Covered Employment must be contributing to the Plan at a minimum Contribution Rate as specified below:

If your former Bargaining Unit does not meet the minimum Contribution Rate, you and your spouse will lose entitlement to this benefit effective January 1 of the following year. For example, suppose that on September 1, 2020 the hourly Plan Contribution Rate in your former unit is lower than $2.60 (Construction Work) or $1.70 (Non-Construction Work); all Retirees and their spouses from that Bargaining Unit will lose the $31 Supplemental Insurance Subsidy effective January 1, 2021.

If you retired on a Normal Retirement Pension or an Early Retirement Pension, you are required to have worked 3,500 Hours of Work in Covered Employment in the five consecutive calendar years before your Effective Date, in a job classification under a CBA in which your Employer contributes at least the minimum Contribution Rates described above.

If you are receiving a Full Disability Benefit, you must have 3,500 Hours of Work in Covered Employment within the five calendar years immediately preceding the date the U.S. Social Security Administration (or Railroad Retirement Board) found you disabled.