Dear Retiree/Surviving Spouse;

As the Holiday season is upon us I want to take this opportunity to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year!

I also want to thank the many retirees who have once again been supportive during 2006, both with your generosity through donations and the many kind words of encouragement for the DEAR efforts to secure the benefits you worked for at DTE, (Detroit Edison/Michigan Consolidated).

On Monday the 27 th of November, a leadership team from the DEAR Board met with DTE leadership. The main topic, as I am sure you can guess, was the recent open enrollment process for 2007 healthcare enrollment. At the time of the meeting there were 1,695 retirees or surviving spouses who had not yet successfully enrolled in the 2007 healthcare program. The Human Resources leadership made the commitment that they would send out reminder post cards and try to contact by phone each person not yet enrolled. They also stated that any healthcare coverage problems experienced in 2007 would be dealt with and that no current beneficiary would lose their healthcare benefit. No one in attendance at this meeting felt that the timing or even the process itself was very user friendly. Of those who were successful in reenrolling, 70% were by phone and 30% used the web page. We also discussed what appeared to be an increase in the Emergency Room co-pay and the company agreed that that particular coverage was incorrect in the material and the ER coverage was in fact, the same as 2006. .

THEREFORE, IF YOU HAVEN'T ENROLLED IN YOUR HEALTH CARE PLAN FOR 2007 AND THE HEWITT WEB SITE IS DOWN UNTIL THE FIRST OF NEXT YEAR, YOU CAN ONLY ACCOMPLISH ENROLLMENT BY CALLING 1-866-899-4DTE

A consultant from Mercer and Associates was also present at the meeting to provide information on the various generic prescription drug programs that we are reading about. Emphasis was on the $4 generic drug programs at Wal Mart, Sam's Club and Target and he encouraged us to be sure of the quantity (a full 30 day supply) and cautioned that at this early stage in the programs, enough isn't known to suggest what the cost savings will be for the long term as each program contains language saying it could be discontinued. We also touched on the Meijer pharmacy offer of FREE antibiotics. This Meijer program is offering 7 regularly prescribed antibiotics free for a maximum of 14 days, and we are encouraged to use this program for as long as it is in place.

Once again BEST WISHES for 2007!!

Jim