Retirees, council members don't like how insurance premium hike planned; mayor will consider options

Mayor Annise Parker Council Member Wanda Adams
Photos courtesy COH

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Fewer than half a dozen persons signed up to speak at the Houston City Council’s weekly Public Speakers session about the planned 49 per cent hike in health insurance premiums paid by City retirees under the age of 65. Premiums for retirees over the age of 65 and those paid by current city employees will also go up, but by much smaller amounts.

While some retirees and council members think the proposed hike could have been handled better, both they and Mayor Annise Parker, who proposed the increase as a way to help meet a sizable budget shortfall, are continuing to look for and consider other options.

"There is now a general feeling among retired police officers, especially those under age 65, that they have been betrayed by the City of Houston,” said Bill Elkin, executive director of the Houston Retired Police Officers Association. “When this group of men and women went to work for the Houston Police Department, by and large, they were recruited with the understanding that after fulfilling a dedicated and loyal career of 20, 25 or 30 years of service, they would enjoy the benefits of a livable pension and an affordable health care program. Now, many of these retirees, who worked so long and hard, are confronted with a 49 percent health insurance increase on their contribution. Some tell me that they are seeing their benefit check almost disappearing, because more and more of it is going to pay for health insurance.

"The widow of one retiree, who happens to be under age 65, called me and told me that, currently, after her deductions are extracted, her pension check totals $525 a month,” Elkin said. “With this 49 per cent increase, she may have less than $100 a week to live on."

Elkin says literally two-thirds of the currently retired Houston police officers are under the age of 65. "All that retired police officers are asking for is a fair shake in this matter," Elkin said. "They know that as costs increase for consumer items, health costs also go up. But not 49 per cent.”

Retiree Dennis Thompson said, "We worked, some of us 20 years, some 30 years, with the understanding that we shared an insurance pool with the other active employees. And the understanding, I think, that some of us left the City under was that that would continue into the future. Most of us, as reasonable consumers, try to make plans for the future, based on what we think is going to happen, what we're told is going to happen. That included a pension and that included some reasonable expectation for health insurance. Seems that now we've been divided into multiple groups; we're no longer in a shared pool.

"I have to only feel some of the pain that some of the people have in terms of how much of their pension is being consumed by the insurance bill. I've been luckier than some. But, it's still an obvious issue when you say, 'if your pension no longer covers the financial portion of your insurance, then make other arrangements.' That seems sort of a bleak finish to a career, I have to say.

Thompson added, "We are concerned. We would like to have some consideration, some dialogue. Certainly more transparency as to what's going on and what the issues are."

Council Member Wanda Adams asked Parker if she would grant a moratorium on implementing the 49 per cent hike until she (Adams) and other council members can determine for themselves if such a hike is necessary.

"My understanding is that we can do it a whole lot cheaper,” said Adams. “But I think it's something that we should have been able to discuss among the committee that I'm appointed to. For me not to know anything about it and to hear about it third-hand, I think it was very disrespectful. You're the mayor and you can make the necessary choice to say 'let's re-look at it and not let May 1st be the date that all of this becomes effective."

Parker, facing a large budget shortfall, indicated she’s not adamant about the proposed hike and welcomes more discussion and any reasonable options that may surface. "I have been approached by the firefighters' union and the police officers' union, and asked if they could consider the actives (current employees) taking some of this cost voluntarily,” she said. “And I said I would be happy to sit down with them and work with them on this, but that if the City accepted the (health insurance) cost, we'd have to find the savings elsewhere. So, there are ongoing discussions."

Adams said she plans to bring the subject up again at tomorrow's continuation of the council meeting when council members have the opportunity to 'pop off' about whatever is on their minds.