Watch Your Mail for Your Dependent Verification Package

Health care continues to be one of the fastest-growing costs for employers and employees alike. Research shows that many dependents who are not technically eligible under company plan rules are often covered, and drive up costs for companies and participants even further. To help keep costs affordable for everyone, we want to ensure that all dependents who are receiving benefits under Alcatel-Lucent programs meet all of the eligibility requirements.

In the 2008 annual open enrollment communications, we informed you that Alcatel-Lucent would be conducting a dependent verification early this year. As part of that process, if you have dependents who are covered for benefits under your plan, Budco (a third-party organization acting on Alcatel-Lucent’s behalf) will send you a letter in February requesting information for each covered dependent. You will be asked to provide documentation confirming that your covered dependents are, in fact, eligible for coverage under the company’s rules. You will also need to report any ineligible dependents who need to be removed from coverage immediately.

Please note that coverage will be dropped effective July 1, 2008, for any dependent who is found to be ineligible as a result of this verification process. Coverage will also be dropped for any dependent for whom no or incomplete documentation is provided.

A summary of the eligibility requirements will be enclosed with the letter you receive from Budco. They were explained in detail in the 2008 annual open enrollment materials distributed late last year.

Special Note for Class II Dependents — (Former Lucent Employees and Retirees Only)

Former Lucent employees and retirees who have Class II dependents must continue to meet certain conditions for them to maintain their covered status. One of the conditions for continued coverage for Class II dependents is that they must have annual income of less than $12,000 in order to be eligible. In the communication you will receive from Budco, you are advised not to send in any financial information (i.e., all financial data on submitted tax forms should be crossed through). Contrary to these instructions, income information must be provided for Class II dependents, or their verification documents will be deemed incomplete. Budco is including a secondary sheet in the package with this corrected information.

Important Dependent Verification Forms

If you have misplaced certain materials from your package, you can find electronic copies posted here:

Questions

If you have questions on the dependent verification process or if you did not receive your package, please call the Alcatel-Lucent Dependent Verification Help Line at 1-888-898-1115. The Help Line is available Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time (ET).

Please note: The NA HR Service Center and the Alcatel-Lucent Benefits Center have no further information about the dependent verification process.