| RuCo Insurance Committee approves first changes to retiree health insurance |
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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
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Posted: Thursday, January 22, 2009 3:51 pm
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Retired Rutherford County employees are very happy with Rutherford County’s Insurance Committee, after it approved the first proposals in a overhaul of the county’s retiree health care plan.
“It shows the power of the people,” said Steve Cates, a retired Rutherford County teacher. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
Current and retired county employees have been outraged since the county announced plans to overhaul its retiree health plan, brought about by 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.
The committee unanimously approved recommending all three proposed changes to the county’s retiree health care plan. The proposals must now clear the Budget and Finance Committee and full Board of Commissioners before going into effect.
If the commission approves all three proposals, they could result in more than $28.4 million in savings for the county over the next 10 years.
The first proposal affects employees hired by the county after March 1. The new employees will be eligible for retiree health care after 20 years with the county after age 60 or any age after 30 years of service.
Under this proposal, the county will contribute $300 per month per employee to retirement health care or the actual cost of coverage whichever is less. But the employee would be responsible for prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D.
The second proposal covers current employees ages 60-64 that are not grandfathered in under the third proposal.
Rutherford County Insurance Director Lois Miller called this the “Phase in” plan because it requires a gradual increase in the employee portion of health coverage until employee is paying 50 percent of cost.
The county should pay this currently, but contribution level hasn’t been adjusted with increased cost of health care. The county is currently paying 80 percent with employee paying 20 percent, roughly.
County Commissioner and Insurance Committee member Will Jordan said the commission may debate the timeline of this proposal some, since the employee cost will increase over such a short period of time.
“But this is the first time I’ve seen it. I’ll have to think about it some,” Jordan said.
The third proposal covers current post-65 retirees who have 30 years of service as of March 1 and active employees with 30 years of service as of March 1.
Employee will pay 25 percent and the county will pay 75 percent of health care coverage with a 50/50 split on spouses and dependents.
Other groups of employees will be addressed at a later date.
Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.
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