Last week, Congress passed the CARES Act, formally named ‘‘Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’’. As a result, there are a few items affecting health accounts (FSAs, HRAs and HSAs).

1. Over-the-counter (OTC) Drugs and Medicines can now be purchased with health accounts (if permitted by your plan) without a prescription.
   
   WHAT TO KNOW
   • OTC Drugs and Medicines purchased on 1/1/2020 or later are eligible for reimbursement from FSAs and HSAs. Reimbursement permitted for HRAs that currently allow OTC as eligible expenses. View Sample List of Eligible OTC Items
   • Initially, you will need to submit a claim to be reimbursed for these expenses. Claims can be submitted online or through the BRiMobile app.
   • Within 1-3 months, merchants will begin to update their systems to identify these additional OTC items. Once that has occurred, you will be able to use your Beniversal® Prepaid Mastercard® for purchases directly. It will take some time for merchants to properly identify these items. 
2. Menstrual Care Products are Eligible Items. menstrual care products were added as an eligible expense for use with an HSA, FSA or HRA. Reimbursement permitted for HRAs that currently allow OTC as eligible expenses.

Learn more about CARES Act


Managing your Account through BRiWeb 
Login to your BRiWeb account to review account information, make election changes, sign up for direct deposit, report a card as lost or stolen and more.

First-time BRiWeb user? The first time you log into BRiWeb you will need to register.

• COMPANY CODE: wsboces
• MEMBER ID: This is selected by your employer and is typically a payroll ID or social security number. If you are unsure, your Benefits Administrator should be able to confirm. You will select a personalized Login ID during registration for future use.

Login to BRiWeb

​The Community Cupboard is need of volunteers for their packing days!


Please use the attached spreadsheet to sign up. The complete list of dates is below.

If you have any questions, please contact me at BMUSTsecretary@bmust.net or the Union Office at 992-1068.

Thank you!
Meg Hirsch


3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

·         March 11
·         March 25
·         April 7 (Tuesday)
·         April 22
·         May 6 (AP testing)
·         May 20
·         June 3
·         June 17 (Regents testing)

Robert G. Porter Scholars Program: offers four 4-year, $8,000 post-secondary scholarships to graduating senior students who are dependents of AFT members
Member Grants: 10 one-time $1,000 grants to AFT members to assist with their continuing education and/or fund their proposed ideas to strengthen and grow their union

Our AFT Local Number is: 3043

For more details and eligibility requirements, see attached.

BMUST belongs to the Long Island Teachers’ Benevolent Fund (LITBF), which offers a yearly scholarship, (the Len Motisi Memorial Scholarship) to high school seniors graduating this year, who will be attending a post-secondary institution on a full time basis and whose parent is an active teacher in a Long Island local. Many of our members’ sons and daughters have been awarded this scholarship over the years.


The attached application must be sent back to the BMUST office no later than March 6, 2020 to get my signature on it and for me to send it to LITBF before the deadline of March 13, 2020. 


You must include a copy of the school transcript, with the current GPA on it and include a copy of the SAT or ACT scores.  If the transcript does not contain the GPA, your Guidance Counselor must submit a statement with the scores. Please fill the form in as soon as possible and forward it to me through inter-office mail.


Please note, you are now required to include your NYSUT Member Number on the application. If unknown, please reach out to Meg in the BMUST office.
 
Good luck,
Rob