Report on October, 2010 STRS Board meeting
From STRS, October 18, 2010
Last week, the State Teachers Retirement Board held its monthly meeting. Following the regularly scheduled meetings, a report titled "Board News" is posted on the STRS Ohio Web site, as well as mailed to a number of members and education organization representatives who have requested it. As a member of STRS Ohio with an e-mail address on file, you will also receive this report each month. The October report follows.
OCTOBER BOARD NEWS
BOARD ADOPTS REVISIONS TO LONG-TERM PENSION REFORM PLAN
At its October 2010 meeting, the State Teachers Retirement Board approved changes to the pension reform plan originally adopted by the board on Sept. 1, 2009. Since then, the Healthcare and Pension Advocates for STRS (HPA), who represent a coalition of member, employer and retiree groups, have suggested some modifications to the plan. After discussing these changes for several months, the board approved modifications in three areas at this month's meeting. With these changes, both the Retirement Board and the major constituency groups are now united in their support of the proposed reform package and can work collectively for its passage in the Ohio General Assembly.
The modifications are as follows:
- Retirement Eligibility The transition period for qualifying for a retirement benefit at 35 years of service from 30 years of service will be phased in based on the following timeline:
30 years of service until 8/1/2015;
31 years of service 8/1/2015 through 7/31/2017;
32 years of service 8/1/2017 through 7/31/2019;
33 years of service 8/1/2019 through 7/31/2021;
34 years of service 8/1/2021 through 7/31/2023;
35 years of service from 8/1/2023 and after.
As in the board's original plan, members will still be able to retire at age 60 with 30 years of service or at age 65 with five years of service, beginning Aug. 1, 2015. Under the revised plan, a member may also retire with 30 years of service under age 60 or at age 60 with five years; however, the pension benefit will be actuarially reduced beginning Aug. 1, 2015.
- COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) Under the revised plan, STRS Ohio members who are retired as of July 1, 2011, will receive an annual 2% COLA. Members retiring after 7/1/2011, will also receive a 2% COLA, but it will not begin for 36 months after the date of retirement.
- FAS (Final Average Salary) Rather than request a change to a five-year FAS calculation from the current three-year calculation, the Retirement Board will now seek statutory authority to set a three-, four- or five-year FAS. This will give the board some discretion in making this change on the proposed implementation date of Aug. 1, 2015, based on the actuarial condition of the pension fund at that time.
The proposed changes to contributions and the benefit formula contained in the board's original plan remain the same. Member and employer contributions would be increased by a total of 5% by July 1, 2020. The member increase would be phased in at 0.5% per year, beginning July 1, 2011, until 2.5% is reached on July 1, 2015. The employer increase would be delayed for five years, when it would be phased in at 0.5% per year, beginning July 1, 2016, until 2.5% is reached on July 1, 2020.
Under the board's plan, the benefit formula would be 2.2% per year for the first 30 years of service; 2.5% per year thereafter, beginning Aug. 1, 2015. With this formula change, the 35-year enhanced benefit is eliminated.
The entire package of changes is projected to save about $8.4 billion in accrued liabilities and would bring the pension fund to a 35.1-year funding period; a slight increase from the 33.4-year funding period that would have resulted from the board's original plan.
The changes contained in the Retirement Board's plan require legislative action. The introduction of any pension legislation is not expected until after the November election.
ANNUAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION REPORT REITERATES NEED FOR PENSION FUNDING CHANGES
At its October meeting, the Retirement Board received the annual actuarial valuation report of STRS Ohio's pension fund from its actuarial consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This report provides a "snapshot" of the actuarial position of the retirement fund as of July 1, 2010. As expected, the funding period for the pension fund remains "infinite"; the funded ratio declined slightly from 60.0% to 59.1%. The funding period is the number of years required to pay off the pension fund's unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities; the funded ratio is the percentage of assets STRS Ohio has on hand to pay all benefits accrued by STRS Ohio members to date. An infinite funding period means the system will eventually be unable to pay benefits, unless changes are made.
In developing the actuarial valuation, STRS Ohio's actuarial gains and losses for fiscal year 2010 (July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010) were compiled. PwC looked at the system's actual versus expected actuarial experience in several areas, including investment returns, payroll growth, salary increases, retiree mortality, and the number of retirements and other separations from the system, such as account withdrawals -- all of which can either reduce or increase the system's liabilities from one year to the next.
STRS Ohio experienced a net actuarial loss for the fiscal year of $279 million. Investment losses in prior fiscal years were the major reason. The positive investment return for fiscal year 2010 above the assumed rate of 8% generated a gain. However, STRS Ohio uses an approved accounting and actuarial technique called "smoothing" to spread market volatility over four-year periods to make investment returns more of a "trend" rather than a "spike." Consequently, the significant losses in the market value of investments experienced in fiscal year 2009 are still reflected in this year's valuation, resulting in a 6.58% rate of return for actuarial purposes.
The results of this actuarial valuation continue to confirm the need for the reasonable, measured changes contained in the long-term pension reform plan the Retirement Board has proposed to help strengthen the financial condition of the retirement system.
BOARD CONTINUES HEALTH CARE STRATEGIC PLANNING DISCUSSION
At its October meeting, the Retirement Board continued reviewing the STRS Ohio Health Care Program as part of its initial steps toward developing a strategic plan for retiree health care for adoption next spring. As noted in previous STRS Ohio communications, funding for the health care program will be depleted by 2021.
During October's meeting, the board heard a presentation from Brent Greenwood, vice president of Actuarial Consulting for Ingenix Consulting. He reviewed how STRS Ohio's health care program compares to the current marketplace and how the retiree marketplace will change in the future in light of national health care reform.
Across the country, fewer organizations -- both public and private -- are offering retiree health care. For those entities that do still provide coverage, retirees are paying an increasing portion of the total cost through their premiums, deductibles, copayments and coinsurance to keep pace with unrelenting increases in the health care trend rate.
Overall, STRS Ohio's Health Care Program offers career educators comparable or better value in terms of coverage and member premiums at this time because of the premium subsidies to career educators, no underwriting and no age rating. However, federal health care legislation will change the marketplace by 2014, creating new pressures on STRS Ohio's program. The health care legislation calls for enhanced access to coverage through the eventual elimination of all preexisting condition exclusions, limited underwriting and the introduction in 2014 of state-sponsored health care exchanges. As a result, more plan options with lower premiums than STRS Ohio can offer for those under age 65 will likely become available in the marketplace. For those age 65 and older, reduced subsidies for Medicare Advantage plans could lead to higher premiums, while the 10 Medicare defined supplemental plans offered through many insurance carriers may become more attractive.
In previous meetings, it has been noted there are four levers that affect the financial status of the health care program: (1) funding, (2) plan design, (3) eligibility and (4) premium subsidy. Greenwood reiterated this, noting that retiree health care plan costs can generally be reduced in one of two ways: (1) reduction in the cost of coverage per retiree (subsidy/plan design); or (2) reduction in the number of covered retirees (eligibility). In November, the board will begin deliberations centered on the four levers to develop a long-term strategic plan for its health care program.
RETIREMENTS APPROVED
The Retirement Board approved 1,000 active members and 83 inactive members for service retirement benefits.
Last week, the State Teachers Retirement Board held its monthly meeting. Following the regularly scheduled meetings, a report titled "Board News" is posted on the STRS Ohio Web site, as well as mailed to a number of members and education organization representatives who have requested it. As a member of STRS Ohio with an e-mail address on file, you will also receive this report each month. The October report follows.
OCTOBER BOARD NEWS
BOARD ADOPTS REVISIONS TO LONG-TERM PENSION REFORM PLAN
At its October 2010 meeting, the State Teachers Retirement Board approved changes to the pension reform plan originally adopted by the board on Sept. 1, 2009. Since then, the Healthcare and Pension Advocates for STRS (HPA), who represent a coalition of member, employer and retiree groups, have suggested some modifications to the plan. After discussing these changes for several months, the board approved modifications in three areas at this month's meeting. With these changes, both the Retirement Board and the major constituency groups are now united in their support of the proposed reform package and can work collectively for its passage in the Ohio General Assembly.
The modifications are as follows:
- Retirement Eligibility The transition period for qualifying for a retirement benefit at 35 years of service from 30 years of service will be phased in based on the following timeline:
30 years of service until 8/1/2015;
31 years of service 8/1/2015 through 7/31/2017;
32 years of service 8/1/2017 through 7/31/2019;
33 years of service 8/1/2019 through 7/31/2021;
34 years of service 8/1/2021 through 7/31/2023;
35 years of service from 8/1/2023 and after.
As in the board's original plan, members will still be able to retire at age 60 with 30 years of service or at age 65 with five years of service, beginning Aug. 1, 2015. Under the revised plan, a member may also retire with 30 years of service under age 60 or at age 60 with five years; however, the pension benefit will be actuarially reduced beginning Aug. 1, 2015.
- COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) Under the revised plan, STRS Ohio members who are retired as of July 1, 2011, will receive an annual 2% COLA. Members retiring after 7/1/2011, will also receive a 2% COLA, but it will not begin for 36 months after the date of retirement.
- FAS (Final Average Salary) Rather than request a change to a five-year FAS calculation from the current three-year calculation, the Retirement Board will now seek statutory authority to set a three-, four- or five-year FAS. This will give the board some discretion in making this change on the proposed implementation date of Aug. 1, 2015, based on the actuarial condition of the pension fund at that time.
The proposed changes to contributions and the benefit formula contained in the board's original plan remain the same. Member and employer contributions would be increased by a total of 5% by July 1, 2020. The member increase would be phased in at 0.5% per year, beginning July 1, 2011, until 2.5% is reached on July 1, 2015. The employer increase would be delayed for five years, when it would be phased in at 0.5% per year, beginning July 1, 2016, until 2.5% is reached on July 1, 2020.
Under the board's plan, the benefit formula would be 2.2% per year for the first 30 years of service; 2.5% per year thereafter, beginning Aug. 1, 2015. With this formula change, the 35-year enhanced benefit is eliminated.
The entire package of changes is projected to save about $8.4 billion in accrued liabilities and would bring the pension fund to a 35.1-year funding period; a slight increase from the 33.4-year funding period that would have resulted from the board's original plan.
The changes contained in the Retirement Board's plan require legislative action. The introduction of any pension legislation is not expected until after the November election.
ANNUAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION REPORT REITERATES NEED FOR PENSION FUNDING CHANGES
At its October meeting, the Retirement Board received the annual actuarial valuation report of STRS Ohio's pension fund from its actuarial consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This report provides a "snapshot" of the actuarial position of the retirement fund as of July 1, 2010. As expected, the funding period for the pension fund remains "infinite"; the funded ratio declined slightly from 60.0% to 59.1%. The funding period is the number of years required to pay off the pension fund's unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities; the funded ratio is the percentage of assets STRS Ohio has on hand to pay all benefits accrued by STRS Ohio members to date. An infinite funding period means the system will eventually be unable to pay benefits, unless changes are made.
In developing the actuarial valuation, STRS Ohio's actuarial gains and losses for fiscal year 2010 (July 1, 2009-June 30, 2010) were compiled. PwC looked at the system's actual versus expected actuarial experience in several areas, including investment returns, payroll growth, salary increases, retiree mortality, and the number of retirements and other separations from the system, such as account withdrawals -- all of which can either reduce or increase the system's liabilities from one year to the next.
STRS Ohio experienced a net actuarial loss for the fiscal year of $279 million. Investment losses in prior fiscal years were the major reason. The positive investment return for fiscal year 2010 above the assumed rate of 8% generated a gain. However, STRS Ohio uses an approved accounting and actuarial technique called "smoothing" to spread market volatility over four-year periods to make investment returns more of a "trend" rather than a "spike." Consequently, the significant losses in the market value of investments experienced in fiscal year 2009 are still reflected in this year's valuation, resulting in a 6.58% rate of return for actuarial purposes.
The results of this actuarial valuation continue to confirm the need for the reasonable, measured changes contained in the long-term pension reform plan the Retirement Board has proposed to help strengthen the financial condition of the retirement system.
BOARD CONTINUES HEALTH CARE STRATEGIC PLANNING DISCUSSION
At its October meeting, the Retirement Board continued reviewing the STRS Ohio Health Care Program as part of its initial steps toward developing a strategic plan for retiree health care for adoption next spring. As noted in previous STRS Ohio communications, funding for the health care program will be depleted by 2021.
During October's meeting, the board heard a presentation from Brent Greenwood, vice president of Actuarial Consulting for Ingenix Consulting. He reviewed how STRS Ohio's health care program compares to the current marketplace and how the retiree marketplace will change in the future in light of national health care reform.
Across the country, fewer organizations -- both public and private -- are offering retiree health care. For those entities that do still provide coverage, retirees are paying an increasing portion of the total cost through their premiums, deductibles, copayments and coinsurance to keep pace with unrelenting increases in the health care trend rate.
Overall, STRS Ohio's Health Care Program offers career educators comparable or better value in terms of coverage and member premiums at this time because of the premium subsidies to career educators, no underwriting and no age rating. However, federal health care legislation will change the marketplace by 2014, creating new pressures on STRS Ohio's program. The health care legislation calls for enhanced access to coverage through the eventual elimination of all preexisting condition exclusions, limited underwriting and the introduction in 2014 of state-sponsored health care exchanges. As a result, more plan options with lower premiums than STRS Ohio can offer for those under age 65 will likely become available in the marketplace. For those age 65 and older, reduced subsidies for Medicare Advantage plans could lead to higher premiums, while the 10 Medicare defined supplemental plans offered through many insurance carriers may become more attractive.
In previous meetings, it has been noted there are four levers that affect the financial status of the health care program: (1) funding, (2) plan design, (3) eligibility and (4) premium subsidy. Greenwood reiterated this, noting that retiree health care plan costs can generally be reduced in one of two ways: (1) reduction in the cost of coverage per retiree (subsidy/plan design); or (2) reduction in the number of covered retirees (eligibility). In November, the board will begin deliberations centered on the four levers to develop a long-term strategic plan for its health care program.
RETIREMENTS APPROVED
The Retirement Board approved 1,000 active members and 83 inactive members for service retirement benefits.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 6:56 PM
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