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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 24, 2005 Retirees balk at insurance switch Dyal defends moving former city workersto plan tied to PERS, despite higher costs By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Medford’s city manager, Mike Dyal, has found himself in the hot seat over the issue of health insurance for retired city employees. One retiree, former City Attorney Ron Doyle, says the city is breaking the law by not allowing all employees to stay with the same group insurance plan after retirement. City officials respond that they are providing insurance by giving retirees the option to go with a different, more expensive, plan available through the Public Employee Retirement System. Doyle, 56, in September filed a tort claim, or notice to sue, saying the city is breaking state law by denying continued insurance to some retirees. Similar claims have been filed by other retirees since then. Doyle said in 2001 he was instructed by the city manager to ignore state law and city policy and discontinue the coverage plan of retirees. During the Nov. 17 City Council meeting, Doyle asked the council to fire or request the resignation of Dyal over the action. After hearing from Doyle, the council agreed to meet in executive session to discuss the allegations regarding Dyal. Advertisement For his part, Dyal argued that the city is following the law by providing a separate, albeit more expensive, insurance option to retirees "The PERS option is available to retirees and the city pays yearly as required by statute for that coverage opportunity," Dyal wrote in a memo given to council members last week. In that same memo, he alluded to the sensitivity of the issue, telling the council "... you should expect a buzz saw on this one." "They have been incited," Dyal’s memo said, "and do not want to hear the rest of the story — only their definition and slant." About 300 of the 440 city employees have health insurance through the Oregon Teamsters Employee Trust. That policy does not provide an option of continuing coverage into retirement, according to Doug Detling, human resources director. Doyle maintains that violates the state law and runs counter to a resolution adopted by the City Council in 1986 saying that retirees would have access to continued coverage under the city’s insurance plan. But City Manager Dyal says the city is fulfilling its bargain by providing coverage through the PERS plan. PERS health insurance currently has a monthly premium of $1,028 for retiree and spouse. Detling said that while the city’s current OTET insurance policy does not continue coverage into retirement, OTET does have other plans that do provide that option. The monthly premium for the retiree policy is about $800, he said. Shirley Peters Kammel, a retiree from the Medford Police Department, also spoke to the Medford City Council on the subject Nov. 17. "We are asking you to direct your city manager to make continuing retiree health care insurance available to all your city employees and your retired workforce, as the law requires," she said. "Not only is it possible, it is in fact being done for your AFSCME employees and retirees." About 75 city employees are represented by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees and about 64 are represented by the firefighters union. Both unions offer employees the option to continue their insurance plan. Detling said AFSCME retirees pay a $788 monthly premium for coverage of employee and spouse. The firefighters’ monthly rate is $1,199 for a family. Detling said he was not aware of any decision to drop OTET coverage for retirees. "I don’t think it’s ever been brought up at the bargaining table in contracts I’ve been involved in since 2000 (when he was hired)," he said. In his memo to the council, Dyal said retiree health insurance is a sensitive — and expensive — issue with local governments nationally. "City employees are used to having the city pay all or most of their premium and due to this being a high cost issue nationwide, no one is willing or able to touch this issue. Those employers who made commitments in the past, are now expending a large part of their budget in paying the cost of providing health care insurance for retirees." Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail Retirees balk at insurance switch ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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