New York, NY – The Teamster Center Services, a Taft-Hartley Trust Fund, held its 24th Annual Health and
Benefits Expo on October 6th, 2017, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. A wide variety of health and pension benefit service providers from all over the United States were conference sponsor exhibitors, and event attendees were trustees, administrators, consultants, and key staff members of multi-employer and public benefit plans. Fifty-six vendors exhibited their products and services, and over 300 people participated. The Diamond Sponsor was Empire BlueCross/BlueShield.
Founded in 1962, TCS provides advice, referral and case management services to the participants of its
member welfare funds. It serves twenty Teamster unions, reaching approximately 32,000 Teamsters and their families.
Great information was presented at five morning workshops. One, “Can You Hear Me Now? Debunking common myths about hearing loss, including: who’s affected, the magnitude of the problem, and the cost of not treating it”, sponsored by EPIC Hearing Healthcare HealthCare, gave the attendees detailed information about common hearing loss, its prevalence, cures, and the role of insurance in its treatment. Dr. Andrea Davidson, President and Audiologist of the Hearing Spa of Beverly Hills, presented the information accompanied by slides. Interestingly, hearing treatment, including hearing aids, are woefully uninsured by most major medical insurers. Most unions do provide insurance in this area, however, unlike non-unions.
Another highlight of the day was the presentation of the Humanitarian Award to Jim Dougherty, who
retired after 25 years of leading the Geisinger Marworth Treatment Center in Waverly, PA. In presenting the award, Andy Johnson, Fund Administrator, Teamster Center Services, noted that, “Jim always operated at the highest levels of ethics and professionalism and consistently emphasized the importance of providing high quality treatment.“
Both exhibitors and attendees benefitted from the event, as there were many opportunities for networking with both vendors and peers.
Looking forward to next year’s Expo, November 9, 2018 will be the 25th Annual Health & Benefits Expo. Says Johnson, “We are excitedly planning for that Silver anniversary.”
