From November 2001 NASW NEWS
Copyright ©2001, National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

Web Site, Refunds Unveiled

Insurance Trust Holds Contest, Returns Dollars

Clues hide four winning NASW membership I.D. numbers per month.

By Corinna Vallianatos, NEWS Staff

The NASW Insurance Trust has announced two exciting developments: an interactive Web site and the distribution of a partial premium refund to many insured members with the trust's life/disability line of insurance policies.

Web Site. One of the highlights of the new Web site, which is linked to NASW's, is its promotional contest modeled after the board game "Clue." Here's how it works: after viewing a short, spooky movie, complete with haunted house sound effects, a site visitor registers for the contest using his or her NASW membership I.D. number and then proceeds to search through Insurance Trust text for telltale clues such as a knotted rope or a candlestick. Four winning NASW I.D. numbers per month are hidden behind those clues, one of which matches to the grand prize, a DVD player. The other three winners receive NASW Press $100 gift certificates.

The trust's site also includes applications for NASW membership and for trust-sponsored insurance products that can be downloaded; links to ethics articles and other professional risk-management information; and a risk-management advice hotline number that a member who holds the trust's malpractice policy can call and connect to an expert for free.

"Because the trustees are social workers who feel personally connected to the members they represent, we've posted their photos on the site so members can see who is working on their behalf," said Loretta Robinson, Insurance Trust director. The Insurance Trust Web site is www.NASWInsuranceTrust.org.

Refunds. For the second consecutive year in the trust's history, members who paid $50 or more in premiums for group insurance in the year 2000 will receive refund checks in the mail. Group insurance offered through the NASW Insurance Trust and The Principal Life Insurance Company includes term life, long-term disability, hospital daily cash benefit, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

Trust participants can expect to get 12.5 percent back at the end of this year on the premiums paid to Principal, said Robinson.

"In the year 2000, group insurance experience and utilization was good enough to generate a small return to our members," she said. "The goal of the Insurance Trust is definitely not one of money-making."

The previous year, she said, the trust gave back over $625,000 to 16,905 members. The checks arrived just before the holidays.

This year, the trust estimates that it will mail checks to more than 16,000 members, for a total refund of more than $627,000.

"The trustees like to share the good program experience with the members who made it happen," Robinson said.

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