Our Wonderful Benefits Programs con’d
At the beginning of May, I had mailed and posted a series of questions to Mary-Ann Fleming, the NFL’s Director of Player Benefits. (Click HERE to read the original questions I’d submitted.) A week later, I received a short letter from them informing me that she was away on business and then on vacation. Nearly a month after sending out my first letter, I finally received a 3-page response via FedEx. (By the way, what’s the deal with all that? No one gets back to me quickly and when you do, there are no answers to my questions. You take over 2 years to finally decide to send me a second reimbursement check for $202.68 as your share of a $60,000 surgery. Yet you have paid assistants to respond that you’re away on vacation. And everything’s done by FedEx – at our plan’s expense, no less.)
.
Here is a copy of Mary-Ann Fleming’s letter. She says that a check for $202.68 should arrive in 3-4 weeks! Let’s see, I submitted these additional out-of-pocket expenses over a year ago (and that was a year after they sent me my first reimbursement check for $517.63 in late December, 2008) and now they finally decide to approve this new check. WOW! Talk about a fast turnaround! (Click on the thumbnails to enlarge for reading.)
.
.
However, they have yet to pay for any physical therapy or pain medication that were prescribed by my doctor (?!!). Ms. Fleming promised she would pay for my physical therapy in one of her previous e-mails but she seems to have forgotten. And my total left hip replacement was done back on April 29, 2008! There are many other medical expenses I have incurred from this surgery but I’ve already wasted well over 70 hours on copying and sending documentation and considering the surgery was only a few hours long over two years ago, I’ll call it a day.
.
Since that surgery in 2008, I’ve had another spine surgery on Aug. 11, 2009 to remove four 3½-inch screws. However, I didn’t bother submitting any related expenses because it’s just not worth all the work for what amounts to a few hundred dollars.
.
Then on March 4, 2010, I had a Hydrocele surgery. And once again, I didn’t bother to submit any expenses just for a few dollars of reimbursement.
.
Mary-Ann, why haven’t you and Larry Lamade responded to the actual questions I sent to you, Roger Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, Dave Duerson, Tom Condon and Jeff Van Note? Where are the answers to my questions?
.
.
Oh – I almost forgot – included with the letter was a 22-page Summary of OUR wonderful NFL Player Care Plan but no copy of the FULL plan. Would you please send me a complete copy of the plan document so we can all see exactly what it is we’re supposed to expect from our Benefits Dept.? Can anyone actually find a copy of the current Plan or is it still in storage as one of your staffers once told me or are they still writing it? I would phone your office but my past experiences with Sarah Gaunt is she would hang the phone up on me.
.
Regards,
Dave & Heidi Pear
.
.
.
.
.
.