Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast, an NFL podcast for
Speaker 1: the players, by the players. Here is your host, four
Speaker 1: team year NFL veteran and Hall of Famer Enius Williams. Hello,
Speaker 1: and welcome to the NFL Legends Podcast. I am a
Speaker 1: Nius Williams. In early the NFL and the Players Association
Speaker 1: signed a new collectively bargain agreement which includes many changes
Speaker 1: to the NFL Legends earned benefits. Today, we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about those changes and how they affect the lives
Speaker 1: of NFL legends and their families. With us today are
Speaker 1: Tracy Perlman, who I would consider in the league office,
Speaker 1: Powderful Pound, one of the heaviest hitters in the league
Speaker 1: office and NFL Senior Vice president of Football Communications and Marketing.
Speaker 1: Blenda Learner, executive director of the NFL Player Care Foundation,
Speaker 1: And Jacob Frank, NFL Manager of Collectively Bargained Player Benefits. Today,
Speaker 1: we're going to give answers to the questions many legends
Speaker 1: and their families have and give you the tools to
Speaker 1: get additional information that you need to take advantage of
Speaker 1: these earned benefits. The first thing I want to talk
Speaker 1: about is what are the new benefits for legends and
Speaker 1: their families in the new c b A and how
Speaker 1: does it compare to what was in the two thousand
Speaker 1: eleven deal. Where can I learn more about this? Tracy, Well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let Jacob and Blenda take you through the
Speaker 1: new benefits, but we reiterate over and over and over again.
Speaker 1: The place to go for information is the Legends Portal
Speaker 1: at Players dot NFL dot com. The portal can take
Speaker 1: you to all the information, but you can also ask
Speaker 1: the Legends director at your club. You can also talk
Speaker 1: to any of the twenty four Legends Community directors and coordinators.
Speaker 1: You will see information in the newsletter um. You can
Speaker 1: also follow the Legends community on social media where we
Speaker 1: will put out that information, and you can go to
Speaker 1: NFL Player Benefits dot com. So there are multiple ways
Speaker 1: to get the information. And if you feel comfortable, you
Speaker 1: can also call us and make a direct connection so
Speaker 1: that Jacob or Belinda can actually walk you through the
Speaker 1: information personally. Before I get going, Tracy, could you just
Speaker 1: kind of give us feedback in terms of the landscape
Speaker 1: when this agreement was signed. How often did you hear
Speaker 1: about players about Legends and how excited, uh, what kind
Speaker 1: of feedback did you get from the Legends community. So
Speaker 1: I think the Legends community was kind of waiting with
Speaker 1: faded breath to see if this was going to get done.
Speaker 1: And I think what we keep hearing is it's amazing
Speaker 1: that the current players and the league really took this
Speaker 1: as seriously as they did, and that this was really
Speaker 1: at the forefront of the conversation. So as we talked
Speaker 1: to players, they are really excited that this was something
Speaker 1: that was held up high, as this is one of
Speaker 1: the things we really need to get done, and now
Speaker 1: guys really want to know how to use it. Because
Speaker 1: leading into this, I think players were unsure of how
Speaker 1: important is this to everyone. And I think the league
Speaker 1: and and Belinda and Jacob being parted the part of
Speaker 1: the team who negotiated this, I think the league and
Speaker 1: the current players really wanted to make sure that they
Speaker 1: took care of the icons of the game. And that
Speaker 1: was huge because a lot of the conversations I had
Speaker 1: with Legends, it was kind of like a wait and
Speaker 1: see approach. So thank you for sharing the landscape. There
Speaker 1: were many benefits for the Legends in the previous c
Speaker 1: b A. What has changed in this agreement In the
Speaker 1: Health and Wellderness Area d S. I'll take that one
Speaker 1: and I'll start off with the NFL's Dedicated Hospital Network.
Speaker 1: It's new under the NFL Player Insurance Plan, and it's
Speaker 1: a brand new program designed to provide legends with access
Speaker 1: to top rated hospitals and club cities by leveraging the
Speaker 1: partnerships NFL clubs have with their premier healthcare networks. The
Speaker 1: service is free to the legend. So who's eligible, Well,
Speaker 1: the legend must be a vested player typically that's three
Speaker 1: plus credited seasons or four if they played prior to
Speaker 1: They cannot currently be on an NFL insurance plan, and
Speaker 1: they need to be under the age of six. The
Speaker 1: launch state is September one one, and the way it's
Speaker 1: planning on working is that it's going to be administered
Speaker 1: by SIGNA, So eligible players will receive a card showing
Speaker 1: they are registered for the program. There'll be a dedicated
Speaker 1: call in center for the legends to all into. The
Speaker 1: players call will receive an intake process through one of
Speaker 1: the SIGNA representatives who will pick up that fall. Then
Speaker 1: it's the job of the SIGNA representative to coordinate appointments
Speaker 1: with the with end services at the hospital which the
Speaker 1: players assigned to, and then the player will go to
Speaker 1: the hospital at the appointed time, meet with someone at
Speaker 1: the hospital will be aware of their visits and they'll
Speaker 1: coordinate all further services if necessary, even after the player leaves.
Speaker 1: After the player leaves his appointments in the hospital, again
Speaker 1: it is free of charge to those eligible players. And
Speaker 1: what does it include. These are incredible services. Services will
Speaker 1: include free preventative care which includes annual physicals and screenings.
Speaker 1: Depending upon your age, you may be able to get
Speaker 1: a free prostate exam or colonoscopy. Then you're also entitled
Speaker 1: to for free limited orthopedic procedures including author scopies, so
Speaker 1: maybe a meniscus repair or an a c L repair.
Speaker 1: Those who are going to be provided on a limited
Speaker 1: s s and up to a dollar value again free,
Speaker 1: but the value would be placed in no more than
Speaker 1: You can also get chiropractic and physical therapy and mental
Speaker 1: health care. So we're excited about this and the whole
Speaker 1: idea behind this really and is trying to create access.
Speaker 1: We want our players to be able to take care
Speaker 1: of themselves and provide them with the right resources so
Speaker 1: they can connect with medical facilities that can help them
Speaker 1: do that. In Belinda, maybe you mentioned this already. For
Speaker 1: players that are not in hospitals in league cities, will
Speaker 1: they be required or responsible to pay to get to
Speaker 1: those hospitals if they're not living there. No, the original
Speaker 1: design is to align ourselves with the hospitals that are
Speaker 1: sponsored by NFL clubs, But any player can have access,
Speaker 1: So if you live outside of a club city, you
Speaker 1: can still have free access. The other interesting point is
Speaker 1: that you're not assigned to a specific hospital. So even
Speaker 1: if let's say you live in Miami but you prefer
Speaker 1: to go to a hospital in Tampa Bay, then you
Speaker 1: can do that. You're not assigned to a specific hospital.
Speaker 1: You can have access to any one of those hospitals.
Speaker 1: And what about education and finance, Yeah, so I'll talk
Speaker 1: about the Tutition Assistance Benefit, which has been greatly enhanced
Speaker 1: as part of the new c v A. The Tutition
Speaker 1: Assistance Benefit will support legends who are interested in continuing
Speaker 1: their education. So for those of your listening, perhaps you're
Speaker 1: thinking about finishing your undergraduate degree, obtaining a graduate school degree,
Speaker 1: or perhaps it's a trade school certification, it is very
Speaker 1: important to know there is money available to you, and
Speaker 1: the dollars have been increased as part of the new
Speaker 1: cb A. You do not need to be vested in
Speaker 1: order to take advantage of the tutition assistance benefit. So
Speaker 1: if you're not vested, meaning you have at least two
Speaker 1: credited seasons, you are eligible to receive up to thirty
Speaker 1: thousand dollars in tuition assistance to go back to school
Speaker 1: to get that undergraduate degree, graduate school degree, or trade
Speaker 1: school certification. For those of you or vested, if you
Speaker 1: have five or more credited seasons, you can be reimbursed
Speaker 1: up to one d five thousand dollars by One of
Speaker 1: the questions that I oftentimes received when I talk about
Speaker 1: the tutition assistance benefit is can I receive this benefit
Speaker 1: and take advantage of let's say, the Trust's scholarship. And
Speaker 1: the answer is yes, you can take advantage of the
Speaker 1: tutition assistance benefit under the c b A, and you
Speaker 1: could take advantage of the scholarship that's provided by the Trust.
Speaker 1: So for those of you who are not vested, if
Speaker 1: you take advantage of that thirty thou dollars and the
Speaker 1: Trust scholarship, which is twenty dollars, you can have upwards
Speaker 1: of fifty dollars available to you to go back to
Speaker 1: school over the course of over the course of your lifetime. Jacob,
Speaker 1: And I ask you a question, Jacob. The NFL tuition
Speaker 1: assistance is a reimbursement and the trust is a scholarship.
Speaker 1: Correct correct Jacob, From the information that you have, are
Speaker 1: you aware of if players were taken advantage of tuition
Speaker 1: assistance in the last collective Bargain Agreement? Yeah, we've We've
Speaker 1: had a significant significant number of players that take advantage
Speaker 1: of the tutition Assistance benefit. What we did see though,
Speaker 1: is that players really wanted to get a trade school
Speaker 1: certification and that was not an eligible criteria under the
Speaker 1: previous c b A, and so under the new cb A,
Speaker 1: we expanded that criteria. So, as I mentioned, you can
Speaker 1: get that undergraduate degree if you can apply the money
Speaker 1: towards the graduate school degree and a trade school certification.
Speaker 1: We have more than one thousand universities across the country
Speaker 1: that are eligible under the Tutition Assistance Plan, and you
Speaker 1: will be eligible to utilize that money for trade school certification.
Speaker 1: So we're hoping to see more and more legends utilize
Speaker 1: this benefit as we go forward. And what did it
Speaker 1: changes in areas of disability? And yes, would you mind
Speaker 1: if I just went back and talked a little bit
Speaker 1: more about some of the other health and wellness programs
Speaker 1: that are available on the new GM, and then I'll
Speaker 1: head on back to that. In addition to the NFL
Speaker 1: Dedicated Hospital Network, there's also an expanded benefit in the
Speaker 1: Health Reimbursement Account what we call the h r A,
Speaker 1: so new to the Collective Baring Agreement is a one
Speaker 1: time fifty thousand dollar contribution to an h RA account
Speaker 1: for eligible legends and their dependence. Now, these h RA
Speaker 1: accounts existed prior, and they were existed under the eleven agreement,
Speaker 1: but it was limited to players who were vested and
Speaker 1: typically had a season in two thousand and seven or later,
Speaker 1: and they would have money put into a n h
Speaker 1: RA account. In again, we're looking back and trying to help,
Speaker 1: as Tracy said earlier, the icons of the game. So
Speaker 1: in looking back, we have identified players with three plus
Speaker 1: credited seasons, so you don't need to be vested for
Speaker 1: those guys three plus credited seasons. Players A Legends who
Speaker 1: are under the age of sixty five on April one,
Speaker 1: and legends who had never previously participated in the NFL
Speaker 1: h ra A plan. As I said, again, players typically
Speaker 1: with seasons prior to two thousand and seven, they will
Speaker 1: get this one time fifty thousand dollar contribution. Again, the
Speaker 1: benefit is emphasizing to improve access to healthcare, very similar
Speaker 1: to the thought process behind the NFL Dedicated Hospital Network.
Speaker 1: What kind of expenses are covered under this h r A.
Speaker 1: So with this fifty dollars, you can use it to
Speaker 1: get reimbursed for medical, dental, and vision, and insurance premiums.
Speaker 1: You can get your insurance deductibles and co paste covered
Speaker 1: through reimbursement, prescription drugs, chiropractic visits, mental health visits, and
Speaker 1: these are some of the expenses that are enumerated and
Speaker 1: covered under the new h r A. Significantly, this package
Speaker 1: has already gone out to the players who are eligible,
Speaker 1: so they will have received the package, and we're proud
Speaker 1: to say, um they will be able to look back
Speaker 1: to April one when it came to effect, and any
Speaker 1: medical expense covered by the h r A from that
Speaker 1: point on going forward they could have reimbursed. Thank you.
Speaker 1: I think so too. We're proud of it. One other
Speaker 1: I wanted to mention is our Medicare Supplement plan again
Speaker 1: with the idea of trying to help more of our
Speaker 1: older players UM. This benefit existed in the twenty eleven
Speaker 1: c b A, but it's been much expanded UH. It's
Speaker 1: the benefit designed to assist legends with medical expenses who
Speaker 1: are sixty five years or older and who are on
Speaker 1: Medicare UM. In twenty eleven, vested legends would receive a
Speaker 1: hundred sixty dollars per month to purchase Medicare Supplement insurance,
Speaker 1: which is typically called metic gap, and that would be
Speaker 1: provided only by one it was United Healthcare, and our
Speaker 1: participation was less than fifty approximately forty two percent of
Speaker 1: eligible legends, so we wanted to think of ways that
Speaker 1: we can encourage more players to participate. So under the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty agreement and effective September one, in order to
Speaker 1: encourage more users, we've expanded UM. We've expanded the the
Speaker 1: options available, so the vested legends would still receive the
Speaker 1: hundred sixty per month, but now the options have been
Speaker 1: expanded beyond United Healthcare. There's going to be a retiree
Speaker 1: exchange that would be available and that will offer both
Speaker 1: meta gap and advantage plans. From all carriers in the
Speaker 1: players geographic area. There are about nine hundred eligible legends.
Speaker 1: So again it's our hope that with more choices will
Speaker 1: have more legends that will participate. And then in September
Speaker 1: one six, the one sixty will go up to two
Speaker 1: hundred dollars per month. So that's so, I just wanted
Speaker 1: to make sure we we got in all of the
Speaker 1: wonderful health and wellness benefits available to the players. I'll
Speaker 1: stand when of these benefits going to effect well, April some.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned on the Medicare supplement, it'll start effect
Speaker 1: of September one. UM, the h r A accounts again
Speaker 1: April one and so, and the NFL Hospital Network is
Speaker 1: scheduled to launch September one one. And when legends expect
Speaker 1: to see money is reflective in their accounts, well, the
Speaker 1: in the h ra A account, they should the money
Speaker 1: is there, and that I understand that the reimbursement forms
Speaker 1: and all of the necessary materials in order to enroll
Speaker 1: have been have been mailed out, so they should be
Speaker 1: in the hands of the players of the legends as
Speaker 1: we speak. UM again, the dedicated Hospital Network, we're now
Speaker 1: coordinating and working with both the clubs and the hospitals
Speaker 1: in the various cities to try to put the program together,
Speaker 1: and we're optimistic, even though UM, needless to say, hospitals
Speaker 1: are very much focused on the COVID nineteen issues. We
Speaker 1: still think we can meet our deadline of September one,
Speaker 1: and we'll be providing information to players shortly before that
Speaker 1: so they know exactly what to do. So here's a
Speaker 1: big question for legends. What steps do legends need to
Speaker 1: take to activate these benefits? Well, depending upon the benefit
Speaker 1: UM typically you would get, and I'll let Alec Jacob
Speaker 1: also talk to this. There'll be information being sent from
Speaker 1: the Plan Benefit Office advising players of exactly what steps
Speaker 1: they need to take in order to activate them. Jacob,
Speaker 1: I know you might have more information on that, so
Speaker 1: what you can speak to them? That's exactly right. Um.
Speaker 1: The one point that I would heavily emphasize to legends
Speaker 1: listening is that it's crucial to visit the NFL Player
Speaker 1: portal and your personal profile on NFL player Benefits dot Com.
Speaker 1: NFL player Benefits dot Com is your one stop shop
Speaker 1: for all of your collectively bargained player benefits. It has
Speaker 1: been completely revamped and updated with all the cb A
Speaker 1: benefits information. Your accounts for your various benefit plans, including
Speaker 1: your retirement plans, pension for owe K annuity are being
Speaker 1: updated on a weekly basis so you can see what
Speaker 1: your account balances are. It's also imperative that you have
Speaker 1: a current address and email address on file with the
Speaker 1: NFL Player Benefits Office. You can update your email address
Speaker 1: as well as your mailing address on NFL Player Benefits
Speaker 1: dot Com. But as Belinda mentioned, your LGE ability for
Speaker 1: the benefits is automatically triggered, so you'll receive that communication
Speaker 1: via email and mail. But we do want to make
Speaker 1: sure you have the appropriate address on file to ensure
Speaker 1: that you are receiving that information and interview all can
Speaker 1: answer this question and Tracy what players have in these
Speaker 1: new benefits these great opportunities. A lot of times the
Speaker 1: wives significant others are the ones that end up reaching
Speaker 1: out to get the information. Who are where would you
Speaker 1: recommend a significant others are the spouses reach out to
Speaker 1: to get assistance to take advantage of these benefits. First
Speaker 1: of all, the player legend can actually um give access
Speaker 1: to the portal to their significant other so they can
Speaker 1: assign another user so that they can utilize the portal
Speaker 1: as well, but again same exact people. They should call
Speaker 1: anybody and the Legends can unity. They can call or
Speaker 1: email our office directly. So we know that the wives
Speaker 1: are really the ones who are taking the initiatives on
Speaker 1: some of these things, so we make sure that the
Speaker 1: wives are also invited to all of the events. So
Speaker 1: I would suggest to Legends once we are able to
Speaker 1: host our lunch and learns and our Legends lounges again
Speaker 1: that bring your wife and make sure that she is
Speaker 1: listening in on all of the things that are available,
Speaker 1: because I think in order to activate, it's a lot
Speaker 1: easier to understand when you're talking to someone directly versus
Speaker 1: just looking at it on a piece of paper. Um.
Speaker 1: The clubs are also doing everything they can to be
Speaker 1: inclusive of the significant other in the conversations and talk
Speaker 1: to other wives and give other wives directions because I
Speaker 1: do believe the wives are also our biggest advocates. And
Speaker 1: to Jacob's point, I think the wives are the one
Speaker 1: who will make sure that the information is updated because
Speaker 1: that is the biggest man us I think on the
Speaker 1: part of the Legend is you need to be proactive.
Speaker 1: You need to check your balances. You need to go
Speaker 1: into both the Player Benefits UH portal and the Legends
Speaker 1: portal and make sure your information is updated because it's
Speaker 1: very hard for us to know how and where to
Speaker 1: find you if your information keeps changing. So I would
Speaker 1: suggest number one that you make your wife a significant
Speaker 1: other user on your accounts. You ensure that you bring
Speaker 1: your significant other to the events where we allow partners
Speaker 1: to be there, and that you keep everything updated proactively.
Speaker 1: Here's a good question, will any type of legal advice
Speaker 1: or a lawyer be needed by any legend in order
Speaker 1: to take advantage of all of these benefits? Yeah? That
Speaker 1: that's a great question, one that we received quite often.
Speaker 1: Um the decision, as we say, remains with the legends.
Speaker 1: So if you are more comfortable with a law are
Speaker 1: than great. If you are not, then great. But what
Speaker 1: I would say is that the NFL as well as
Speaker 1: the NFL p A have made significant significant strides in
Speaker 1: simplifying the benefits application process as well as NFL Player
Speaker 1: Benefits dot com. So it's quick and easy to understand
Speaker 1: how to apply for say, disability benefits or how do
Speaker 1: I withdraw my money from the four oh one K
Speaker 1: or annuity program. There are multitude, as Tracy mentioned, resources
Speaker 1: available to help you the Legend navigate this is this
Speaker 1: oftentimes complex landscape. The other thing that I would add
Speaker 1: is you may encounter a time where you have a
Speaker 1: very personal question. Um You may have recently gone through
Speaker 1: a divorce, You may are thinking thinking about going through
Speaker 1: a divorce, which oftentimes does have benefit implications. So don't
Speaker 1: be afraid to to please reach out to myself for
Speaker 1: blenda representative from the Management Council, or the n f
Speaker 1: l p A or even the NFL Player Benefits Office.
Speaker 1: They have more than fifteen case managers on staff. They
Speaker 1: can help you navigate benefits landscape and make sure you
Speaker 1: are taken care of as well as your family and
Speaker 1: well into the future. Guys, this has been so great
Speaker 1: we will make it a two parter. Stay tuned for
Speaker 1: the discussion about Legends benefits. This has been the NFL
Speaker 1: Legends podcast. To provide feedback or request a topic for discussion,
Speaker 1: email us at NFL Legends at NFL dot com. Ye