County retirees allowed voice at insurance committee meeting on The Murfreesboro Post

Sidebar Ads

County retirees allowed voice at insurance committee meeting

Related Articles

Time running out on county legal department

Mayor: Rutherford County will not see tax hike

Gilley named Rutherford County Republican of Year

RuCo Convenience Centers close for Easter

RuCo unemployment rate beats state

Commissioners balk at limiting social media

Red Cross wants to prepare for disaster

GOP primary candidate’s eligibility questioned

Rash of burglaries reportedly solved

Rutherford County to consider special redistricting committee

View All

By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer

Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 2:27 pm

Representative of the Rutherford County Retired Teachers Association will get a chance to speak their minds at the county’s Insurance Committee meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Lee Campbell and Liz Bennett will address the committee with their concerns about proposed changes to the county’s retiree health insurance plan, even though the county doesn’t generally allow public comment at committee meetings.

“We have been granted permission to speak at the Insurance Committee meeting,” Bennett said. “I am very pleased that Mayor Burgess is allowing us to speak and I feel like the voices of the retired teachers of Rutherford County need to be heard.”

The retired teachers want to speak about proposed changes to post-retirement health care insurance offered by the county.

Recent changes to accounting policies require governments to project retiree health benefit costs and record the liability on a yearly basis. This new requirement is forcing many governments to reevaluate retiree health coverage.

Before now, the county funded retiree health care on a pay-as-you-go basis at a cost of $2 million per year. But now they must pay for current and future retirees on an annual basis, much like how the county funds its pension plan.

In order to fund retiree health benefits at the current level and save for future retirees, the county would have to save $389,430,501 over the next 30 years, or more than $26.5 million per year in Annual Required Contribution (ARC), County Finance Director Lisa Nolen explained.

But an insurance subcommittee, including Nolen, worked to change what the county currently offers to bring the figure down to $3.5 million per year.

“In order to get the ARC reduced to a level that the county can fund, a full spectrum of changes is required,” Nolen said.

The most sweeping change is the requirement for retirees to enroll in Medicare Part D, which provides prescription drug coverage for individuals over 65 years old, with some carriers offering vision and dental insurance at an increased price. 
Recent and future county employees will have to work longer and only have access to the county’s health plan after retirement. The county will not provide any supplement to the cost.

Long-term county employees will receive a graduated supplement based on their years on the job after Jan. 1, 2009 and the county will contribute $78 per individual or $145 per couple for Medicare Part D, which is 50 percent of today’s Medicare cost.

As for current retirees, the county proposes no change to this group, except for those over 65 years old.  These former employees will continue to see the 50-percent contribution for health coverage, but they will be required to enroll in Medicare Part D for pharmacy coverage.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under INSURANCE, RUCO

Member Opinions:

By: enoughisenough on 7/23/08
This change in policy coverage is an outrage! These retirees worked 30+ years for OUR county and are now being treated as if they contributed NOTHING! All employees of Rutherford County should show at this meeting and lend support to stop this horrible actions.