Monday, November 06, 2006

Medicare aged STRS retirees - you'll lose some more on Medicare reimbursement, BUT NOT OPERS & Police & Fire RETIREES!

Note from John: Once again STRS retirees get the shaft! OPERS reimburses at 100%-even Police & Fire (who are in trouble) reimburse at 100%.....STRS...well, read on! The study below was done by Ken Ruth of the Shelby Co. RTA. Please copy & share this with an STRS retiree (especially of Medicare age) who may not have a computer.
From Ken Ruth - Shelby County RTA
November 6, 2006
At its November meeting the STRS Board is scheduled to set the Medicare reimbursement rate for 2007 for 59,435 retirees 65 years of age or older. The idea behind this reimbursement is to help offset the monthly premium those on Medicare must pay to the federal government.
Going back to 2000 and using figures for medicare premium taken from The Senior Citizen's League website and the reimbursement amount provided by STRS, the following chart is created

Medicare
STRS
Premium Reimburse
2000.......$45.50.........$40.95.........90.0%
2001.......$50.00.........$45.00.........90.0%
2002.......$54.00.........$48.60.........90.0%
2003.......$58.70.........$52.83.........90.0%
2004.......$66.60.........$52.83.........79.3%
2005.......$78.20.........$52.83.........67.6%
2006.......$88.50.........$62.37.........70.5%
2007.......$93.50.........$52.83 (projected)
.....................................................56.5%
2008.......$104.30 (projected)
2009.......$116.50 (projected)

The chart shows that in the not to distant past it was common for STRS to reimburse a significant percent of the monthly Medicare premium. This began to change in 2004 and (except for a slight bump in 2006) will decrease by 14% from this year and by 33.5% from 2003 if the current plan to return to the 2003 amount is approved. At the same time that STRS is considering cutting back, OPERS and the Police and Fireman Funds reimbursement is at 100%.
Although the individual amounts may seem small, (+$5 for Medicare monthly and -$10 reimbursement monthly) it should be remembered that the retirees affected are those making do on the smallest pensions. Also, the projected medicare monthly premiums for 2008 and beyond are definitely scary.
It seems as if our retirement board is headed in the wrong direction on this issue. To maintain this year's 70% level (+$183,000 monthly) would be needed. It is not an excessive fix for a $65 billion fund. For an increase of $1.3 million monthly the reimbursement amount could be brought back up to the 90% level where they were just four years ago.
Share this with all (but especially retirees on Medicare). All 59,435 should contact STRS Board members to oppose cuts and demand increases in the reimbursement BEFORE THE NOVEMBER 16-17 MEETING!

posted by Kathie Bracy at 10:35 PM

Larry KehresMount Union Collge
Division III
web page counter
Vermont Teddy Bear Company