Retired state employees in Illinois are going to have to find a way to pay for their health insurance premiums very soon. The Illinois House of Representatives and Senate has approved a bill that Governor Pat Quinn has promised to sign. This change affects retired university employees, lawmakers, judges and some retired teachers.
In February of 2012, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn wanted to cut the state of Illinois’ contributions for the health insurance benefits of retired teachers. This would affect retired school teachers and retired community college professors.
The purpose of these cuts was to save the state of Illinois around $92 million dollars. The rise in the cost of premiums that would result from these cuts was expected to be too high for many retired teachers to afford. Essentially, it would cause many retired teachers to lose their health insurance coverage.
Now, the Illinois House of Representatives, and the Illinois Senate, each voted to approve a bill that would require retired state employees to begin paying for their health insurance premiums. At the time I am writing this blog, the bill has not been signed by Governor Pat Quinn, but, he has made statements that say that he will sign the bill.
This bill will end the premium-free health insurance benefits that are currently given to retired state employees. This group includes state and university retirees, lawmakers, judges, and some retired teachers. The bill will allow the Department of Central Management Services to determine how much these retired workers should pay for their state health insurance coverage. That decision would have to be approved by a panel of lawmakers before it will take affect.
Senator Larry Bomke, a Republican from Springfield, made a very good point. He said that this bill is unconstitutional. This bill affects state workers who were promised that if they worked 20 or more years for the state that they would receive health insurance at no premium cost.
That particular promise was made into a law in 1997. Now, years later, the state of Illinois is suddenly going back on its word to all those employees. Senator Bomke thinks the bill should only affect future retirees, and not people who have already retired.
The premium-free health insurance that is given to retirees covers only the retiree. However, they still have to pay out of pocket for dependent coverage, co-payments, and other out of pocket expenses. This bill could make the health insurance that is currently given to retired state workers too expensive for them. The retired workers, and their dependents, could soon be completely without health insurance coverage.
Image by Tripp on Flickr