HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2823        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2474

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Jay R. Kaufman

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to retiree health benefits.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2823        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2474

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act relative to retiree health benefits.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 13.  Section 8 of chapter 32A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the words “ and retired employees” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- employees and retired employees who have received at least 35 years of creditable service.

SECTION 14.  Said section 8 of chapter 32A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:-

The commonwealth's share of the group insurance premium for state employees who have retired before July 1, 1994, shall be 90 per cent.  The commonwealth's share of the group insurance premium for state employees who have retired on or after July 1, 1994 and who filed an application for retirement on or before October 1, 2009, for a retirement date not later than January 31, 2010, shall be 85 per cent.  The commonwealth's share of the group insurance premium for active state employees who file an application for retirement after October 1, 2009 and before July 1, 2010, shall be 80 per cent.  The commonwealth's share of the group insurance premium for active state employees who file an application for retirement after October 1, 2009, and have received at least 25 years of creditable service shall be 80 per cent until a different contribution rate is established under this section.  For state employees who have not vested in the state retirement system prior to July 1, 2012 and who subsequently file an application for retirement on or after July 1, 2012, the following adjustments to contribution rates shall apply: (a) For a retired employee with 10 years of creditable service, the commonwealth shall contribute 25 per cent of the contribution rate that the retired employee would have received if the employee retired with at least 35 years of creditable service. (b) For each year of a retiree’s creditable service between 10 and 35 years, the commonwealth shall add an additional 3 percentage points to its rate of contribution under the previous sentence.  (c) For retirees receiving an ordinary disability retirement allowance under section 6 of chapter 32, the rate of contribution under this paragraph shall be determined as if the retiree had continued in active service until the maximum retirement age for the retiree’s group as specified in the table in subsection (a) of subdivision (2) of section 5 of chapter 32.  (d) For retirees receiving an accidental disability retirement allowance under section 7 of chapter 32, the rate of contribution shall be the rate of contribution to retired employees who have received at least 25 years of creditable service.  Each retirement board with members affected by this section shall provide the commission annually with the years of creditable service of its retirees, the group of which each retiree is a member, the type of retirement for each employee and any other information required by the commission.  All savings that result from the difference between (i) the payments that would have been made without pro-rating of contributions and (ii) the payments made under this section, as determined by the commission, shall be appropriated to the State Retiree Benefits Trust Fund established under section 24.