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Friday Message – March 5, 2021               

District Restructuring – Well, we knew it was coming and now it is here, so now we all need to adjust to the many changes that this new restructuring has created or may create.   For those of you that are Postmasters, in most cases, it does not really change your day-to-day duties, there may just be a new District office that you will be reporting to.   With the reduction from 67 to 50 districts there are what some will view as radical changes that will be taking place in that reporting structure.   In some parts of the country, they will be adding a district, in many parts there will be expansion in territory and a major redoing of the District and Area maps, as we know them now.   There have also been some adjustments regarding the Logistics and Processing Operations, as well.   The changes in the Logistics and Processing Operations were mainly to better align the Retail and Delivery Operations areas with the Logistics and Processing Regions and Divisions in the new structure.   The information on the changes including the PowerPoint that has the maps and breakdown by three-digit Zip Code areas regarding who is in what district and how the districts fit into the Area breakdown has been posted on the national website, unitedpma.org.   For those of our members that are in District support roles, etc., the information on how these changes may, or may not, affect you should be shared with you on a local level.   I have been told that it could be some time before final decisions are made on some of those staffing and location issues.   

VERA – In addition to the announcement regarding the District restructuring the announcement also came out regarding the VER and who would be eligible.   As has been reported, the VERA letters have been mailed to those that are eligible and if they have not already landed in your mailbox, they should be arriving in the very near future.    Please note that, at this time, the VERA offering is very targeted and there is no incentive that is attached to the opportunity.    As with so many things in life we are not certain this is the last VERA that may be offered, but it is all that will be offered at this point in time.   If you receive a VER letter, make sure that you go over the information very carefully so that you understand what is involved and what the long term financial ramifications of taking advantage of this opportunity may mean in your life for both the short term and the long term.  

With both the District restructuring and the VER offering I know there are a lot of questions in the field and in a lot of people’s minds.   At this time, we do not have a lot of answers to those questions; however, I am very hopeful in the coming few days or within a couple of weeks your District leadership will be sharing information with you on what impact these changes may, or may not, have on you.   If you have specific questions you can address them to me and I will work to get you some answers if they are out there.

Training/Information Sessions – again this month and going forward will be offering training/information sessions as part of our sponsorship agreement with FedPoint, the agency that oversees the Federal Long Term Care Insurance program.    The sessions will be offered each month on the second and third Thursdays of the month.    On the second Thursday the start time will be 7:30 PM Eastern Time, on the third Thursday the start time will be 9:00 PM Eastern Time.    The topic for March is Supervisor Workload Credits.  Here is the contact information to sign up for and then get on the calls:

Title:  Do I Qualify for a Supervisor? Understanding the Supervisor Workload Credit (SWC) Program

Date: Thursday, March 11, 2021
Time: 7:30 pm EST

Meeting Link: https://ltcpartners.webex.com/ltcpartners/onstage/g.php?MTID=e9725842d778d78346088f1371961b1b0

Title:  Do I Qualify for a Supervisor? Understanding the Supervisor Workload Credit (SWC) Program

Date: Thursday, March 18, 2021
Time: 9:00 pm EST

Meeting Link: https://ltcpartners.webex.com/ltcpartners/onstage/g.php?MTID=ed7ddf1b7ea0cee9413cd98f96428f425

This contact information is also available on our website under events and Online Training Sessions if you have someone you feel would benefit from this information and you want to ask them to join in.   They do not have to be a member of UPMA to access the training, but we will give an encouragement to sign up for membership at the end of the session.   In that way we can use it as an outreach tool.

As always, stay safe, wear your masks and practice social distancing to keep yourselves and those you come into contact with safe.

Dan Heins
UPMA National President