[May 16, 2000 ]

In response to the fire that has temporarily forced the closure of the Los Alamos National Lab and the evacuation of the towns of Los Alamos and White Rock, the lab's Benefits staff and UC HR/Benefits have made special arrangements to serve University employees and annuitants during this emergency.

If you have an urgent benefits issue, call Benefits Team Leader Rosella Atencio-Gerst at 505-667-0863 or Benefits Specialist Caryn Gates at 505-665-7566. They will retrieve voice messages and return your calls as quickly as possible. Laboratory and BlueCross BlueShield representatives will also be available on Friday, May 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following evacuation locations: Cities of Gold Casino - Main Area, Pojoaque, and the Santa Fe High School gymnasium.

If you require medical services but are unable to reach your primary care physician due to this emergency, do not hesitate to seek medical care. The health insurers will approve necessary services, including replacement prescriptions for medications that may have been left behind during the evacuation. If you are enrolled in a BluePremier plan and you need help with medical coverage or prescriptions, call 1-800-711-3795. For the Core medical plan, call 1-800-632-0524. For contact information for other health and welfare benefit providers, see "General Info/Health and Welfare" on the UCbencom website.

For routine benefits questions, call the UC HR/Benefits UC Customer Service Center Center at 1-800-888-8267. No benefit payments or distribution checks are scheduled to be mailed until late May. However, the UC HR/Benefits services area is ready to accommodate emergency 403(b) loans and hardship requests. For hardship withdrawals from the 403(b) plan, call Bonnie Min at 1-800-888-8267, ext. 79396. For 403(b) loan information, call Daniel Scuiry at 1-800-888-8267, ext. 70192.

If the emergency continues to disrupt mail service, UC HR/Benefits will make arrangements to insure that benefit payments are delivered to the appropriate recipients. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

On behalf of the entire UC community, UC/HR Benefits extends its thoughts and well wishes to our colleagues at the lab and the communities affected by this tragedy.

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