City Employees Face Higher Insurance Costs

Memphis, Tn - City of Memphis employees are looking at a double digit increase in the cost of their insurance.

The city of Memphis is saying this is a 20 percent increase in rates across the board. But some say it can be as much as a 47 percent increase. Some retirees are worried about proposed health insurance changes.

Retired Deputy Chief Mike Lee is with the association for city retired employees.

"Everybody works for that light at the end of the tunnel, well right now we see it’s a train headed straight for us," says Lee.

Lee says the retirees fear the city is attempting to push them out, and transition them to using Medicare. But most retirees were prohibited by the city to contribute to Medicare, so now they don't qualify to receive it for free.

"It can come out that the retiree family could be paying over $18,000 a year in medical premiums," says Lee. "Some of our retirees are making $1,000 a month."

Rhoda Gillespie, Director of Community Services for Memphis says she has not been involved in discussions about a transition to Medicare.

"We do encourage retirees to enroll in Medicare plan to help subsidize the cost of the premiums," says Gillespie.

Gillespie says the cost of the health care increases will be about 20 percent across the board, although some critics say it’s as high as 47 percent for some people. Most workers will see an increase in deductibles, amounts of co-payments, and a decrease in coverage.

Gillespie says the cost increase is inevitable.

"As your claims go up you have to look at the costs of premiums, you have to accommodate the cost of the plan," says Gillespie.