Bill Leibensperger's letter to Dispatch: Retirement plan is in need of a tweak

Columbus Dispatch, Saturday, July 15, 2006

Dispatch Public Affairs Reporter James Nash’s recent article on Ohio’s public pension systems left out some important facts about the state of educator retiree health care and the proposal to stabilize its funding for the future. Currently the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio projects funding to continue the healthcare program through 2021. Even so, the trust fund that funds this benefit will begin depletion in 2009, signaling a virtual end to health care for STRS retirees.

So the proposal to put in place a dedicated revenue stream to fund educator retiree health care for the long term represents a responsible approach to this complex issue. STRS Ohio provides health care to over 111,000 retired teachers, university professors and their spouses and dependents. Some 6,500 disabled educators receive their health care from STRS Ohio. Without STRS Ohio health care, many of these retirees and future retirees would become a new class of uninsured Ohioans.

Since 2004, the Health Care Advocates Coalition has worked closely with STRS on a member education and engagement campaign designed to inform members about the costs of health care in retirement and to encourage them to save for these costs. The coalition includes membership from Ohio’s public higher-education institutions, school administrators, retired teachers, higher-education faculty and Ohio’s largest teachers unions. Beginning in 2005, the coalition and STRS mailed brochures to 190,000 active educators, conducted more than 20 regional meetings and communicated with more than 10,000 members. In these conversations, we learned that active educators are supportive of the proposal to increase member and employer payroll contributions by 0.5 percent each year for five years to be dedicated to health care. In recent months, we have reached out to Ohio’s school districts. We want to make sure that they understand the full range of costs associated with the health-care program and the impact if it is ended.

Working with members of our coalition, we have learned that Ohio’s public higher-education institutions are concerned about the STRS Ohio health-care program. This important service is a valuable tool for recruiting and retaining higher-education faculty. Research conducted collaboratively by Ohio State University and the Ohio Education Association concluded that concerns about health care in retirement are a primary factor in the decision to delay retirement by Ohio’s active teachers. Without health care in retirement, it is likely that all educators will teach much longer, driving up wage and health-care costs for all of Ohio’s public-education institutions. This proposal is the most costeffective way to continue a healthcare benefit for retirees who have dedicated their working lives to the well-being of the children in Ohio’s communities.

BILL LEIBENSPERGER

Co-chairman Health Care Advocates Coalition for STRS Columbus