Healthcare Champions Flashback - 1 year ago - remember the Healthcare Champions? You don't suppose the Healthcare Champions retired, do you?

From John Curry, July 21, 2009
Subject: Some of you have asked about spousal subsidy dropping by OPERS as compared to STRS's trashing of all subsidies for spouses..

Here, in a nutshell, is how OPERS is doing it........of course, OPERS (long ago) found that dedicated stream of revenue that Bill L. and the OEA have long been searching for, haven't they?

The words below were taken from the OPERS website:

https://www.opers.org/healthcare/traditional-combined/elig-change.shtml

"New Eligibility Rule for Spouses Effective 2011

OPERS has an on-going strategy in place (unlike STRS..my words - John) to preserve our ability to subsidize retiree health care premiums amid rising costs and a rapidly growing retiree population. As part of this strategy, the OPERS Board of Trustees has adopted a modification to our health care plan eligibility rules affecting covered spouses.

Effective Jan. 1, 2011, OPERS will no longer subsidize the monthly health care premium cost for spouses of retirees who are under the age of 55. This change will affect spouses of retirees who are currently retired and those who will retire in the future. Retirees may continue to cover their spouse under the OPERS health care plan, but they will be responsible for the full health care premium. Once their spouse reaches age 55, OPERS will again subsidize their health care coverage premium.

To clarify, below is a detailed list of those spouses who are and are not affected by the new policy:

Who is affected:

• Spouses of age and service retirees who are under the age of 55 as of Jan. 1, 2011
• Spouses, under the age of 55 as of Jan. 1, 2011, of retirees who converted from a disability benefit to an age and service benefit and,
• Spouses, under the age of 55 as of Jan. 1, 2011, of survivor benefit recipients whose health care coverage subsidy has been grand-fathered

Who is NOT affected:

• Spouses of disability benefit recipients
• Any spouse who is receiving a benefit as the surviving spouse of an age and service retiree (joint and survivor annuity) or as the surviving spouse of a deceased active member (receiving a survivor benefit)
• Spouses with early Medicare
• Dependent children"

P.S. Where's all that talk now about the OEA's pet project - HB 315 (additional funding for STRS's healthcare stabilization fund) that was introduced into the last legislature (still to be reintroduced) and...those "Healthcare Champions?" Don't hear much about a reintroduction, do you? In fact, you don't hear much about the "Healthcare Champions" either!

John