Kathie Bracy: Letter to Heather Rutz of the Lima News

From Kathie Bracy, February 22, 2008
Subject: Re: Teachers retirement system looking for health care funding

Dear Ms. Rutz,

Your recent column in the Lima News ("Teachers retirement system looking for health care funding," 2/19/08) has generated a lot of interest and consternation among retired teachers around the state, mainly because of the uninformed and callous remarks made by Kenneth Clemens, whom you quoted. The bottom line is that teachers have accepted low salaries for years in exchange for a secure retirement that included healthcare, but now the healthcare "rug" is about to be pulled out from under them.

In recent years, healthcare costs have escalated well beyond the means of many retired teachers and beyond the ability of our retirement system, STRS, to continue to fund it indefinitely. At the same time, there have been no increases in the percentage contributed to this fund for the past 23 years from active teachers and school boards. Unless something is done to increase the revenue stream between now and the end of next year, the healthcare fund will begin to dip into the principal and by 2021 we will no longer have healthcare. Then what?

Many retired teachers have gone back to work in order to pay for their healthcare. Many are unable to do so. There are those, too, whose annual pension is less than $20,000, but who still must bear the burden of increased costs and fewer benefits. Think about some older people you care deeply about; would you want them to choose between medical care and food or clothing or heat for their homes? Many retired teachers are doing that now.

Unless a solution is found, many active teachers will work longer than they had planned to, in order to retain their healthcare. Because they are generally the highest paid teachers on the salary scale, this will prove very costly to school boards. It would be much more cost-effective for school boards to increase the percentage of their contribution, in addition to that of the teachers' proportionate increase, to prevent this from happening. As for burdening taxpayers, if no other solution is found, they are going to be burdened a lot more, down the road, when thousands of retired educators start swelling the state's Medicaid rolls. It would be much easier to fix the problem now, because it will become a nightmare later, if it isn't.

Below is a recent rebuttal written to the Akron Beacon Journal in response to a letter written by their school board president, Linda Kersker. It is written by David Parshall, president of CORE (Concerned Ohio Retired Educators), a group that is working to ensure healthcare for present and future retired educators, and explains why the present situation has occurred and why something needs to be done about it soon. I do not have contact information for Dr. Clemens, so I would appreciate it very much if you would forward this letter to him. It may not change his mind, but it should give him some idea what's in store for retired teachers and taxpayers in the future if no solution is found now. I've been retired ten years; I recall receiving one "thirteenth check;" apparently he thinks we are still getting them. He also needs to do his homework on the makeup of the "old board" at STRS. The addition of investment experts to the board came later, as part of the current reform movement started in 2003. The investment experts ARE doing their jobs; some who didn't are no longer there.

I noticed while Dr. Clemens so cavalierly pointed out problems as he perceived them, he also demonstrated no real understanding of them, nor did he offer any possible solutions. I cordially invite him to do so. Thank you in advance for forwarding this to him.

Kathie Bracy
Retired teacher
Columbus, OH

[Note: Dave Parshall's Suggested Rebuttal to the Akron Beacon Journal may be found in a post two down from this one; it is entitled RH Jones: Message for Norton school board re: HC for retired teachers.]

Click here to view article "Teachers retirement system looking for health care funding" in the Lima News.