Mary Ellen Angeletti responds to Lima News article

From Mary Ellen Angeletti, February 21, 2008
Subject: Response to Heather Rutz/Lima News, Kenneth Clemens

I respond to the article written by Heather Rutz in the Lima News titled "Retiree Bonus Draining Coffers". As a retiree of STRS, I know of no bonus received by me or any other retired Ohio teacher. It is true that the State Teachers Retirement System is currently sponsoring HB 315 which, if passed by the Ohio legislature, would provide a dedicated revenue stream for health care for retired teachers. This would be accomplished by increasing the contributions from teachers in schools and universities by 2.5% and by increasing the contributions by school districts by 2.5%.

With HB 315, active educators will be contributing to their own future coverage. These increases would be phased in over a five year period in 0.5% increments. With the full implementation of the bill, retiree health care coverage will be primarily funded by educators through the premiums paid by retirees and the additional 2.5% taken out of each educator's paycheck.

What most people do not know is that active educators attending STRS sponsored conferences were for years promised free health care for themselves and their spouses, then the promise changed to affordable health care for the retiree and spouse, and now that affordable health care has become full cost health care for the spouse and ever more expensive health care for the retiree. This increase is the result of the escalating cost of health care in the U.S. In 2007, we retirees paid 48% of the health care program's cost of $485 million through out premiums, deductibles, copayments, and other out-of-pocket costs.

All of the four other public retirement systems in Ohio provide health care to their retirees but none requires its current retirees to share such a large portion of the cost. Without affordable health care in retirement, teachers will work longer. This translates into higher medical costs and higher wages because the older teachers will be receiving salaries at the top of the salary scale.

Ensuring affordable health care coverage in retirement for Ohio's educators also prevents additional Ohioans from being added to the rolls of the uninsured, which is a growing liability that is impacting all taxpayers. As George Doyle, President of the Lima Allen County Retired Teachers Association, said in his letter to you, there have been no 13th checks for years. My first and last 13th check was sent in 1999.

Mistakes were made in the past at STRS but those Board members were convicted and punished for their misdeeds. As a result, there have been many changes of STRS' policies to assure that these misdeeds are not repeated.

Mr. Clemens questions whether taxpayers should fund health care for retired teachers. He says that it isn't required but he must be reminded that the availability of health care coverage in retirement is an important component of the compensation and benefit package that is used to recruit and retain teachers and would help keep teachers off the rolls of the uninsured in retirement. If the STRS health care program ends (and it will run out by 2021), the liability for Ohio does not go away.

Many retirees and disabled teachers will not be able to afford health care coverage available on the open market, causing more Ohioans to become uninsured. The rolls of the uninsured will be paid by Ohio taxpayers. HB 315 offers an answer. It is an equitable plan that shares the responsibility for health care coverage among retirees, active teachers (who want to prepay health care for their retirement), and employers. For the first time, active teachers will be contributing to their own future health care coverage. We retirees are hopeful that HB 315 receives a hearing soon and will be considered by the Ohio legislature in 2008.

Sincerely,
Mary Ellen Angeletti,
An STRS retiree