Today, Friday, February 3, the special work group appointed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Jane Nelson to consider cost containment measures for state-vested health care plans met and heard testimony. Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) Executive Director Tim Lee was invited to testify.
The following Senators serve on the work group: Charles Schwertner, Chair; Joan Huffman; Lois Kolkhorst; Robert Nichols; Carlos Uresti; Kirk Watson; and John Whitmire.
The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) made presentations.
If you have Microsoft Powerpoint, you can download the slides Tim Lee used in his presentation here.
TRTA is encouraged by the work being done in the Legislature to make healthcare costs a priority. Unfortunately, the TRS-Care program is not immune to ever skyrocketing costs for healthcare. TRTA believes it is important for all of us to work with the legislature on plan design, cost-containment and cost reduction. TRS-Care has a $1 billion shortfall. We need to help the Legislature make good decisions on how this shortfall may be eliminated, and do so in such a way that retirees have access to affordable healthcare options.
TRTA will have a full breakdown of the meeting in an upcoming Inside Line.
Thank You
Thank you for your membership to TRTA. We will continue to follow the progress on TRS-Care. TRTA will provide you many more opportunities to get involved as we protect your hard earned retirement benefits!
If you are not yet a member, we need you to help us protect your retirement security. Please join TRTA today!
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