WBOC | by Kristina DeRobertis
State retirees are speaking out about the future of their healthcare benefits once again.
Earlier last year the Carney Administration planned to switch state retiree healthcare to a Medicare Advantage plan. A group of retirees, known as “RISE Delaware,” protested the change for several weeks.
The switch was originally going to take effect in January 2023, but the State Employment Benefits Committee (SEBC) decided to extend the current plan for one year.
On Wednesday, the Senate looked to pass SB29, a bill that would provide more oversight for retiree healthcare discussions.
19th District Senate Minority Whip, Brian Pettyjohn, said the bill was meant to help.
“The sub-committee is going to look specifically at our retirees because they have different challenges and different needs than our active employees,” said Sen. Pettyjohn. “We are going to make sure that our retirees also have more of a voice than they did before.”
Many retirees who spoke out at the committee meeting felt their voices were not being heard.
“I found today disgraceful,” said John Kowalko, retired 19th district State Representative and co-founder of RISE Delaware. “The arrogance of the leaders of that committee to forbid us to express our opinion and to move forward with this bill today.”
SB29 would require the SEBC to submit a formal recommendation to the Governor’s office and the General Assembly by May 1. This is another aspect of the legislation that retirees were not happy with.
“One of them said May 1 is a soft deadline and another said this is a just a first step,” said Connie Merlet, co-founder of RISE Delaware. “No, this is our lives and if they don’t get this out or if they decide they are going to go back to Medicare Advantage then we don’t have options here.”
Sen. Pettyjohn said the May 1 deadline was put in place for financial reasons.
“On July 1 we have to enter a new budget year so we need to get the information as to what direction we are going to go for the next fiscal year,” he said. “We need to know how much money the state is going to have to contribute to whatever plan in recommended.”
Karen Peterson, retired 9th district State Senator, said committee expansion will not be enough.
“If they wanted to create an unbiased committee, fine I’m all for that,” said Peterson. “But don’t give us the same cast of characters who shoved Medicare Advantage down our throats last year.”
SB29 passed in the Senate 17-3-1 around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
There is also an ongoing lawsuit regarding retiree healthcare, but Senate leaders made it clear that lawsuit would not play a role in committee discussions.