IMPORTANT NOTICE. See below for more information and instructions. See below for more information and instructions.

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1 IMPORTANT NOTICE Your current CenturyLink Health Care Option is not changing! Two new Health Care Options are available in 2015 for CenturyLink Legacy Qwest Pre-1991 and Legacy Qwest ERO-1992 Medicare Eligible Retirees and Medicare Eligible Dependents. This mailing is intended to be an advance NOTICE. There is no action required on your part at this time. Please keep this notice with your important benefits information. In addition to the current CenturyLink Company retiree health care plan benefit option (i.e., Legacy Qwest Pre-1991 Plan 1, 2, 3, 4, and Legacy Qwest ERO POS) available to you CenturyLink is adding two new health care options for you to choose from during the 2015 Annual Enrollment period UnitedHealthcare Group Medicare Advantage Preferred Provider Option (PPO) Includes enhanced benefits such as: No deductible; 100% Preventive coverage; Retail Prescription Drug benefits with copays; Vision services; Hearing aid program; and Access to programs such as the Silver Sneakers fitness program See below for more information and instructions. Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) This account provides you with Companysubsidized dollars to help you purchase the plans/policies that CenturyLink does not oer! You purchase the individual Medicare and prescription drug policy directly from the insurance carrier(s) ( carrier ) of your choice pay the insurance premium directly to them and then receive reimbursement from your HRA. The account is funded annually by CenturyLink in the amount of $3,600. Unused dollars are forfeited at the end of each year. See below for more information and instructions. DON T WORRY if you select one of the new options for 2015 and decide you want to change you can elect a dierent plan option during the next Annual Enrollment period. 1

2 ABOUT THE NEW OPTIONS 1 UnitedHealthcare Group Medicare Advantage PPO Enclosed is a side-by-side comparison of the current CenturyLink Company health care plan option available to you and the new UnitedHealthcare (UHC) Group Medicare Advantage PPO option. As you will see, there are several good reasons for taking a closer look at this Plan option! You will receive a packet of information directly from UHC in the next few weeks. In addition, we will be holding Retiree meetings in certain locations where we have the largest populations of Retirees and hosting live conference calls for other Retirees to call and listen to a CenturyLink and UHC representative discuss these options and answer your questions. Watch for the UHC mailing with the CenturyLink logo on the front cover followed by a postcard which will include the dates and times for the live meetings and conference calls to be held in early October. The enrollment period for this UHC option will start on October 15, in advance of the CenturyLink Annual Enrollment period which is November 10 through November 21, All enrollments for this PPO option MUST be made directly with UHC between October 15 and December 7, 2014 through their dedicated phone line for CenturyLink Legacy Qwest Retirees. Even though you will see this option on your CenturyLink Annual Enrollment worksheet and online as UHC Medicare Advantage PPO in November you will be directed to enroll through UHC which you can do in advance of the CenturyLink Annual Enrollment. Your enrollment with UHC will automatically be transferred to the CenturyLink Service Center as your 2015 Annual Enrollment election with a January 1, 2015 eective date, provided you enroll timely. The dedicated phone number will be provided in the direct mailing packet from UHC in September, at the meetings and on the Retiree conference calls in early October. This Plan option is in addition to, and not part of, the Company s Coverage Committment benefit options. 2

3 ABOUT THE NEW OPTIONS 12 CenturyLink Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) The HRA is set up for you automatically after you elect this option during the CenturyLink Annual Enrollment period and is funded on January 1, This means you are waiving coverage in the CenturyLink medical plan benefit options and will need to enroll in an individual Medicare policy (i.e., Supplemental, Part D, Medicare Advantage) with the carrier of your choice outside of CenturyLink. Waiving CenturyLink medical coverage does not aect your enrollment in the CenturyLink dental plan option! If you are enrolled in the CenturyLink dental plan option and waive CenturyLink medical, you will remain enrolled in the CenturyLink dental plan option. You will need to enroll with your new carrier (for example, Kaiser, AARP or others) between October 15 and December 7, 2014 in order to obtain a January 1, 2015 eective date. This means you can enroll in advance with your carrier and then elect the HRA option beginning on November 10. In addition, if you are already enrolled in one of these individual policies, you may elect the HRA option for 2015 and begin to use your Company-subsidized funds on January 1, You can enroll in an individual Medicare policy directly with the carrier, through a local broker of your choice or through the enrollment vendor OneExchange, that assists CenturyLink Retirees. This contact information will also be provided in early October. When enrolling in an individual policy, make sure that you are requesting a January 1, 2015 eective date and not an earlier date as your current coverage (if enrolled in the CenturyLink group plan) is in place through the end of the year, and your HRA dollars are not available until January 1, 2015 for reimbursement. If you enroll in the HRA option, you will receive a letter from the HRA administrator in mid- December when your account is established that will give you instructions on how to access your HRA dollars once you have paid the carrier for any premiums due. The HRA cannot pay the carrier directly for you. However, for your convenience, the reimbursement can be set up as a recurring reimbursement after you establish your enrollment for the first month. There will also be additional information in the Annual Enrollment Guide you will receive in November. This Plan option is in addition to, and not part of, the Company s Coverage Committment benefit options. 3

4 ABOUT YOUR 2015 CENTURYLINK ANNUAL ENROLLMENT Your CenturyLink 2015 Annual Enrollment materials will show the following four options: Company Plan (current CenturyLink Company plan option still available to both Medicare eligible and non-medicare eligible participants) UHC Group Medicare Advantage PPO (UHC MA PPO) (new option for Medicare eligible only participants) HRA Plan (subsidy dollars will be placed in an account which will be for Medicare eligible only participants and will reimburse you for Medicare policy premiums only) No Coverage (for both Medicare eligible and non- Medicare eligible participants who do not want any CenturyLink medical coverage options or the subsidy dollars) If you enroll in one of the first 3 options and cancel that coverage during the Plan year, you will default to the No Coverage option for the remainder of the year. You will be able to make a new election during the next Annual Enrollment period. MEDICARE ELIGIBLE If you and your dependents are all Medicare eligible, you must enroll in the same plan option. All Medicare eligible persons enrolling in the UHC MA PPO plan MUST complete the enrollment process individually and directly with UHC. This same process will apply if you are enrolling in an individual policy outside of CenturyLink. Everyone must have Medicare Parts A and B in eect before you can enroll. NON-MEDICARE ELIGIBLE If you or your dependents are NOT Medicare eligible yet, you can make separate elections for Medicare and non- Medicare family members. The non-medicare person may remain in the CenturyLink Company plan option or No Coverage option, while the Medicare eligible person may select from the two new Medicare plan options. Please Note: If the non-medicare eligible family member becomes Medicare eligible during the plan year, that participant must enroll in the same plan option that the Medicare eligible family member is already enrolled in. MEDICARE PART-B REIMBURSEMENT If you are currently receiving Medicare Part-B reimbursement, your reimbursement will continue regardless of which option you choose at the standard Medicare Part-B premium amount unless you submit documentation that you pay an income-adjusted Medicare Part-B premium amount. 4

5 WHAT ACTION DO YOU NEED TO TAKE? Depending on which option you choose, the following information outlines what next steps or action you may need to take: UHC MA PPO Option REVIEW the enclosed comparison sheet to see if you are interested in the UHC MA PPO option. 1 ATTEND a Retiree meeting or conference call to hear more information and ask questions. Feel free to have a family member or friend listen with you if you need assistance. If you choose this option, ENROLL directly through UHC between October 15 and December 7 at the dedicated phone number for Legacy Qwest CenturyLink Retirees that will be provided in the UHC direct mailing to you in mid-september. IMPORTANT There are specific Medicare rules for canceling/ disenrolling from this plan option: Prior to January 1, 2015: Once you have enrolled in this option, if you decide during the Annual Enrollment period, prior to December 31, 2014 that you want to cancel the enrollment for 2015 you MUST contact UHC directly and personally retract/cancel your 2015 enrollment in order for your Medicare option to be released. This cancellation can be done over the phone prior to January 1, If this is done timely, you can still make another 2015 Benefit election through the CenturyLink Service Center. After January 1, 2015: If at anytime during 2015, you decide that you want to disenroll/cancel this coverage, you MUST request cancellation in writing to cancel the coverage. A Medicare disenrollment form will be available from the CenturyLink Service Center. These are Medicare rules and neither UHC nor CenturyLink can cancel the coverage on your behalf without the form or written request. All disenrollments are prospective as Medicare does not allow any retroactive disenrollments once your coverage goes in to eect on January 1, Once you have completed the disenrollment process, CenturyLink will default you to the No Coverage option as you will not be able to elect any other medical benefit option through CenturyLink until the next Annual Enrollment period. 5

6 WHAT ACTION DO YOU NEED TO TAKE? 12 Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) If you wish to enroll in the HRA, you will make this election during the CenturyLink Annual Enrollment period between November 10 and November 21. Your account will automatically be set up for you eective January 1, However, you need to enroll in an individual Medicare policy outside of CenturyLink between October 15 and December 7, to ensure that you have medical and prescription drug coverage for The HRA reimburses you only for medical and prescription drug premiums that you are paying to the carrier. Make sure that you are requesting a January 1, 2015 eective date and not an earlier date as your current coverage is in place through the end of the year, and your HRA dollars are not available until January 1, 2015 for reimbursement. 13 Remaining in the same plan you are currently enrolled in If you wish to remain enrolled in your current CenturyLink option, you do not have to take any action as you will default to your current election automatically. You will receive a Confirmation Statement from the CenturyLink Service Center if you are making a change to your current election. CenturyLink is very excited to provide its Retirees with new health care options that may better meet your needs. Please watch for the schedule of informational meetings and conference calls that will be held in early October. Please feel free to arrange for other family members to participate in the meetings or on the call if you need assistance. This mailing is intended to be an advance NOTICE. There is no action required on your part at this time or until you receive UnitedHealthcare information and/or your CenturyLink Annual Enrollment materials. You will receive contact information at that time when we will have representatives that can take your calls starting in October. Sincerely, CenturyLink Benefits Department For specific employee benefit plan information, including terms and conditions for eligibility, limitations and Benefits refer to the respective Plan Documents, including the applicable Summary Plan Description and Summaries of Material Modifications, if any. If there is any conflict between the terms of the Plan Documents and this correspondence, the terms of the Plan Documents will govern. The Plan Administrator has the authority, discretion and the right to interpret and resolve any ambiguities in the Plans or any document relating to the Plans. Plan Administrator, may adopt, at any time, rules and procedures that it determines to be necessary or desirable with respect to the operation of the Plans. CenturyLink reserves the right to amend or terminate all of the Plans and the Benefits provided - with respect to all classes of Participants, retired or otherwise - and their beneficiaries, without prior notice to or consultation with any Participants and beneficiaries - subject to applicable law, collective bargaining as applicable, the terms of the respective Plan Documents, and with respect to the Health Plan, the written agreement specific to Legacy Qwest Pre-1991 Retirees and Legacy Qwest ERO 92 Retirees. 6