Lifetime Medical?

[showerbabies]

Hey all,

I was curious which depts have lifetime medical, or some plan that is closely similar? (I know BART does.)

I'm thinking about possibly spearheading it for our dept.

Any advice or knowledge would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

[turbolarry]

I don't know about other departments, but upon retirement I went on to the retire health care plan provided by the union. That covers me till Medicare kicks in. There were also Calpers options. I suspect every department is gonna do it a little different depending on the city, county, and their budget. Definitely contact Calpers. They have always been so helpful;

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/employers/contracts/health-program-contracts

[tom2]

Most CA state agencies with sworn staff (CHP, DMV investigations, ABC, Consumer Affairs, etc) have, locked in at the ten year mark. UC and CSU PDs too.

San Francisco PD has some form of it. I think with the same minimum time to vest for their medical or a fraction thereof (something to the effect of: 10 years - 50%; 20 years - 100%)

[AreWeNotMen?]

I'm thinking about possibly spearheading it for our dept.

Unless your agency is the most desperate in the state, it is extremely unlikely it will move to such a rich (read as "expensive") benefit if it doesn't have it now. I've been a Chief Labor Negotiator in CA public sector employment for over 40 year: 17 years on the labor side, mostly peace officers and FF, but also many other professions/fields, and 25 years on the employer side. Just this past bargaining season, I saw efforts from labor seeking to go back to any or better retiree medical - in each agency, the governing bodies were not interested at all; some were even looking to cut off or reduce what they currently have for all new hires. Many, many employers have tiered plans based on date of hire, and when each higher/better tier is exhausted by attrition, they never come back Another concern by employers is that you attract older applicants who only want to put in the time to get vested (3 of years vary by agency unless they're under PEMHCA vesting schedule).

As for what agencies have some form of retiree medical, the easiest/surest way to find out is check their websites. Under their HR or employment tabs, look for benefit summaries first, then go to the bargaining units' specific MOU's (labor contracts) and read the exact language specifying the benefit details.

If you want to talk this over, send me a msg.

[esy]

Most state agencies have a minimum of 20yrs service to get lifetime medical. There are a few that have 5yrs of service to get lifetime medical like CSU PDs, and i think even the CA State Assembly Sgt of Arms. There aren’t many though, that’s for sure.

[Chedderboy]

State of California employees have several tiers of retirement healthcare. New employees get 100% of the retirement healthcare benefit after 25 years under the 80/80 formulas.

https://benefits.calhr.ca.gov/state-retirees/retiree-health-benefits/

[ptmn]

UC cops (all nine campuses) need 20 years for full medical. 10 years will get a UC cop 50% medical.
It's not true "lifetime" medical because it ends once Medicare is available.
It's not true "full"(20 years) or "50%"(10 years), because it only means the medical plan contribution from the dept is full or 50%, you're still paying your portion each month.
It's also (depending on the Company: Kaiser, Healthnet, Blue Shield, etc) not the same cost as when working, it could be higher and it is in my case keeping the exact same Healthnet HMO plan. Even though the dept contribution is "full", the plan premium is a little higher for retirees as opposed to current employees, so I'm paying a little more for my wife and I than I was while still working.
On the spousal note, you have to be married a certain number of years for your spouse to be eligible for your medical plan. I don't remember what the minimum was.