National Report Flags Georgia’s Retiree Health Care Cost
The state of Georgia needs better solutions in order to fund retiree health care costs for state employees. That’s according to a national report released by the Pew Center on the States. The information is taken from financials reported by each state. Georgia has been consistent in making contributions to pension plans for state employees.
For example, teachers, police and fire or anyone on a state run plan.
The state pension system was 85% funded.
However, when it comes to money needed for Georgia’s retiree health care cost, the numbers from the report tell a different story.
David Draine is a senior researcher for the Pew Center on the States.
“Georgia’s 20-billion dollar bill for retiree health care was only 3-percent funded based on the latest data and of the amount they were supposed to contribute to fund those in 2010, they fell short by 1.4 billion dollars.”
And that’s cause for serious concern says Draine. While Georgia is not alone, he says it’s a solvable problem for states. Other states according to Draine have asked employees to contribute more, increased the retirement age for new employees, changed the formula used to calculate benefits or in some cases reduced the costs of living adjustments that retirees will get on their core pension benefit.
That could mean law makers grappling with those options in reforming retiree benefits for state employees.
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