Retiree Health Care Benefits for State Employees in 2013

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for State and Local Government Excellence and National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) have published a new overview of the health benefits states provide for their retired employees and how they pay for them.

Spotlight on Retiree Health Care Benefits for State Employees in 2013 uses recent data to review the health benefits states offer their retired workforces; underlying funding issues; approaches states are taking to pay for retiree health care and address unfunded liabilities; and the policy and program changes states have made to retiree health benefits since 2009.

Key findings of the brief include:

• Health care as a portion of overall public employee wage and benefit compensation has increased from 10 percent in 2004 to 12 percent in 2012.
• Fewer state government units offer retiree health care benefits now compared to ten years ago.
• Retiree health care obligations on a per capita basis vary widely among states.
• Unfunded retiree health care liabilities are concentrated in a minority of states: of all state retiree health care unfunded liabilities, 80 percent are attributable to 12 states.
• States use a variety of methods to reduce their retiree health care costs, most commonly shifting more costs to employees and retirees.

Read Spotlight on Retiree Health Care Benefits for State Employees in 2013

[http://slge.org/publications/spotlight-on-retiree-health-care-benefits-for-state-employees-in-2013]

Access all Center health care research at http://slge.org/research/health-care

About the Center for State and Local Government Excellence
The Center for State and Local Government Excellence helps state and local governments become knowledgeable and competitive employers so they can attract and retain a talented and committed workforce. The Center identifies best practices and conducts research on competitive employment practices, workforce development, pensions, retiree health security, and financial planning. The Center also brings state and local leaders together with respected researchers and features the latest demographic data on the aging workforce, research studies, and news on health care, recruitment, and succession planning on its website, www.slge.org.

SOURCE Center for State and Local Government Excellence