The parish government eliminated group health care coverage for retirees over 65, but the St. Charles Parish Council voted unanimously to fund group health coverage for retirees up to that point.
Parish Chief Administrative Officer Buddy Boe said the changes will allow the parish to eliminate $21 million in liabilities from its future budgets. The parish is required to have enough cash on hand to cover its retiree health benefits, whether used or not. Under the current system, retirees and their dependents could be covered until death within the same group insurance policy offered to full-time parish employees. Boe told the council that for every retiree, the parish needed $157,000 on hand.
Employees expressed concerns early in the process that the same administrative rules that end the post-65 coverage could be used to later eliminate benefits entirely, according to parish personnel supervisor Sandra Zimmer. In response, the parish administration drafted an ordinance requiring any future changes to be put to a vote before the council.
The council voted unanimously in favor of that ordinance.
Boe said that the parish was currently in talks with Nationwide Insurance about extending a supplemental health savings plan to retirees to offset potential loss of benefits as a result of the cuts. According to Boe, the parish intends to contribute $50 per month for both the retiree and a spouse.
The changes come as health care costs skyrocket. According to St. Charles Parish CFO Grant Dussom, the parish paid $529,990 for the retiree healthcare benefits in 2013. For 2015, $855,000 has been budgeted, a 38 percent increase. The parish pays about $1,100 monthly for each family HMO and PPO plan.
The changes do not affect those who have already applied for their retiree benefits or are currently receiving them.
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