The Member Records Department has many functions, which are briefly described below; however, each topic will discussed in greater depth in a later section.
Above all, the primary function of the Member Records Department is enrollment. In order to enroll a member or his dependents, specific information must be provided to us to ensure that all are added to the system properly, which in turn will prevent problems with the utilization of Trust Fund benefits in the future. During the enrollment process documents and information are obtained, including beneficiary designation for all Trust Fund accounts, which is vital information should the member or his dependents pas way.
This department is also responsible for self-pay coverage such as COBRA and retire overage. The Member Records Department is responsible for seeing that all coverage is made available to the membership based on their specific situation, as well maintaining the records for said coverage. This includes, but is not limited to issuing payment invoices, receiving, tracking and depositing these payments, and maintaining correct coverage with the vendors (i.e.; Health Net, Kaiser, etc.). Coverage in either of these cases can be due to lack of work hours reported, participant death, divorce or there various factors.
Another important function of the Member Records Department is the extension of eligibility due to either Disability or Military Service. Although the member must provide specific documentation as proof of each situation, which is explained in a later section, both of these extensions enable the member to earn/maintain benefits during a time when he/she is unable to earn them by working in the trade.
The Member Records Department is also responsible for participant address maintenance. For various reasons, a participant's address may be keyed as bad; however, there are specific guidelines that must be followed for an address to be corrected or changed. A bad address can have a negative affect on all areas of the members' benefits, but especially when it comes time to issued Vacation Checks, which are issued quarterly.