California provides health insurance to retired public employees and their dependents, spending upward of $9,000 per recipient per year on OPEB, or “Other Post-Employment Benefits,” as distinguished from pensions. The state provides these benefits even when the retiree or dependent has another job that offers insurance, is covered by Medicare, or is entitled to premium support under the Affordable Care Act or to the California State Premium through California’s insurance exchange, which provides the nation’s highest levels of premium support. (A family of four with an annual income of more than $150,000 qualifies.) Yet despite all these supports, California governments and schools annually tap their own budgets for more than $10 billion to provide for OPEB.
Congress is Generous to a Fault to California
As Congress debates the next Covid-19 relief package for state and local governments and schools, it should note that the Golden State is currently leaving billions of already-approved federal dollars on the table.
California provides health insurance to retired public employees and their dependents, spending upward of $9,000 per recipient per year on OPEB, or “Other Post-Employment Benefits,” as distinguished from pensions. The state provides these benefits even when the retiree or dependent has another job that offers insurance, is covered by Medicare, or is entitled to premium support under the Affordable Care Act or to the California State Premium through California’s insurance exchange, which provides the nation’s highest levels of premium support. (A family of four with an annual income of more than $150,000 qualifies.) Yet despite all these supports, California governments and schools annually tap their own budgets for more than $10 billion to provide for OPEB.
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California provides health insurance to retired public employees and their dependents, spending upward of $9,000 per recipient per year on OPEB, or “Other Post-Employment Benefits,” as distinguished from pensions. The state provides these benefits even when the retiree or dependent has another job that offers insurance, is covered by Medicare, or is entitled to premium support under the Affordable Care Act or to the California State Premium through California’s insurance exchange, which provides the nation’s highest levels of premium support. (A family of four with an annual income of more than $150,000 qualifies.) Yet despite all these supports, California governments and schools annually tap their own budgets for more than $10 billion to provide for OPEB.
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