Legislative Report #07-29

Report 07-29
August 3, 2007

The General Assembly adjourned on Thursday, August 2, completing a very busy session that lasted for 111 legislative days. The legislature will reconvene on Tuesday, May 13, 2008.

Several bills of interest to retirees were approved during this final week of the session. A summary follows.

House Bill 956: Retired Teachers Return to Work
This bill was approved and signed by the Governor on July 31. It extends for two years the law that allows retired public school teachers to return to work at full salary with no loss of pension benefits.
 
However, HB 956 places several restrictions on the return-to-work provision. Teachers retiring after October 1, 2007 must meet the following conditions in order to return full time and still draw their pensions:

1. be at least 65 years old and have five or more years of creditable service, or,
2. be at least 60 years old with twenty-five years of creditable service, or,
3. have thirty or more years of creditable service ( no age threshold).

House Bill 779: Increase Contributory Death Benefit
This bill was ratified on August 2. It increases the amount of the retiree Contributory Death Benefit from $9,000 to $10,000 with no increase in premiums paid by retired state and local government employees. The benefit increase became effective on July 1 and applies to all current and future participants.

House Bill 1593: Change State Health Plan Year
As approved, this bill directs the Executive Administrator of the State Health Plan to evaluate the impacts of changing the Plan benefit year from a fiscal year to a calendar year basis. The bill requires that findings and recommendations be presented to the legislative Committee on Employee Hospital and Medical Benefits by April 1, 2008.
(One potential benefit for retirees of a change to a calendar year would be better coordination between State Health Plan and Medicare benefits.)  HB 1593 was ratified on August 2.

On July 31, we issued a supplemental Legislative Report to detail changes to State Health Plan benefits that were approved by the General Assembly. In a few cases, we provided incorrect effective dates. Following are the correct dates.

Premium Increases for Spouse/Family Coverage: October 1, 2007.
Co-Pay for Preferred Brand Name Prescriptions: August 6, 2007
(Increases from $25 to $30 and applies to both Indemnity Plan and PPO Options)

The following changes are retroactive to July 1, 2007 and apply only to the Indemnity Plan. The three PPO Options are not affected.

1. Increase the Annual Deductible from $350 to $450
2. Increase co-payment for doctor’s in-home and office visits from $15 to $25

THANK YOU

Please accept our thanks for all that you have done during this legislative session.

A growing number of our members receive this weekly Legislative Report and have been very responsive when we have asked for some “grass root” lobbying assistance. Your efforts made all the difference on a number of important issues. We deeply appreciate all that you have done.