PEIA Revisiting Retiree Health Care Changes (Updated)

The future of health care benefits for retired public employees is again up for discussion at a Thursday meeting of the Public Employees Insurance Agency finance board, The Associated Press reports.

(Update: The board met and announced four public hearings for later this month on the pending proposals. The board plans to meet again July 30. AP has details.)

The board is reconsidering its May vote to stop subsidizing retiree premiums starting with 2010 hires. It had also decided to transfer retirees back into PEIA's main program upon the demise of its Medicare Advantage plan.

As AP reported earlier, just five states require their retirees to pay their total premiums according to a recent survey. But a separate study also found that "West Virginia had the fifth-largest liability, per-capita, from such 'other post-employment benefits' as health care."