There are a couple "working" Web sites of interest to public employees. One will let an employee covered by the state medical plan know the class of his/her prescription drug, and the other will enable someone in the public employees retirement system to calculate an estimate of their monthly retirement benefit. First, information on the prescription Web site. The state is engaged in an effort to provide financial incentives to those taking the most effective medicines. You should begin by reading this. About three-fourths through this story is the Web site address URX. Click on this address.

The Health Care & Benefit Division Home page will pop up; it’s entitled "Introducing the NEW Prescription Drug Plan for 2010." Scroll down to "How do I determine my drug(s) class?" Then, click on "Formulary List." Your pharmacy plan will pop up with thousands of drugs. Read the sentence in red on the upper left which states "search for a drug in this document by hitting Ctrl plus F simultaneously." When this instruction is accomplished, a green box will appear with a flashing black line at the top of the page. Type in the name of the drug. Then click on "Find next on PDF." Within a few seconds the drug will appear; they are all in alphabetical order. The drug you have typed in will be highlighted.

The drug(s) category (brand or generic) will appear at the right along with its class (A,B,C,D,F ). It is that "class" designation that will determine how much out-of-pocket expense you will have with the new program which begins January, 2010. You may be curious about what your monthly retirement check will amount to and there is a Web site with a calculator to help you estimate it. If you are thinking of retiring in the immediate future pick up the telephone and call the Montana Public Employees Retirement Administration in Helena, 444-3154, because you are going to need the assistance of this staff. If you are thinking of retiring in the coming year you will need to remember to average your last three years pay. If it’s a little further off than that you will be entering your current pay.

First, go to the state’s Home page. There is a long list of links on the right hand side of the page. Scroll down to State Government and click on State Agencies. The Administration Department is first on the list. Scroll down to public employees retirement division and click on it. The "Welcome to MPERA page will pop up. On the lower right hand side of the page is a link entitled "Calculate My Retirement." Click on this link. A benefit disclaimer will pop up. Click on the start button at the bottom right hand side of the disclaimer link. This will bring up the Calculate My Retirement link. This link will have you identify your name, retirement system, annual salary and years of service. When this is filled out you will need to click on continue. The next page will take your date of birth, when you expect to terminate employment with your PERS covered position, service purchase information and what you expect in the way of a salary increase. Once this information is provided you will again click on continue and this time the estimate of a monthly amount will appear. updated 9/16/09