SEIU is working to enroll all Personal Support Workers (PSWs) in Health Care Plans. The premiums for these Health Care Plans will be paid for through the SEIU Union for eligible PSWs. SEIU would like to get all PSWs enrolled as soon as possible.

SEIU is putting on several Health Care Community Workshops to help PSWs understand the Affordable Care Act and how it impacts them, as well as what Health Care option(s) are available through the SEIU Union.

Unofficial preliminary information SDRI has received from SEIU reflects that PSWs will not need their Provider # (the State still hasn’t sent out these new ID #’s to a number of PSWs) to attend the Workshops. However, they should bring with them their pay stubs for PSW services provided to SDRI customers, to indicate their employer names and how many hours per month they are working with SDRI customers, on average. There may be some minimum threshold of hours worked per month in order to qualify for healthcare through SEIU.

If a PSW already has other health insurance, they may wish to attend one of these workshops anyway, to see whether the insurance offered through SEIU is better/cheaper than their existing insurance, can supplement their existing insurance or can pay all or part of the premium of their existing insurance (if they pay premiums out of pocket but prefer their existing insurance plans).

For additional information, questions, or to register for one of the Workshops, it is recommended that PSWs visit the SEIU Local 503 web site and click the Health Care Community Workshop Locations & RSVP link at the right hand side. SEIU members can also call SEIU directly at 1-855-437-2694 to ask questions and/or sign up for the healthcare coverage.