Changes for OP&F Healthcare
The OP&F Pension Board made an announcement that beginning in 2019 they would no longer be providing healthcare coverage through a self insured program. As an option, OP&F may look at providing a monetary supplement to the retirees to assist with their healthcare needs. (See the OP&F press release). The OP&F Pension fund recognizes the need to continue to provide financial support for the Medicare and pre-Medicare retirees and intend to do so for the foreseeable future.
We appreciate our Ohio Police and Fire Pension Board members, and the hard work that they do and difficult decisions they make. We feel that any ultimate decision on major healthcare changes should be made after all of the interested parties, the FOP of Ohio, the fire unions and retiree organizations, have had the opportunity to participate in discussions with members of the board to direct the wishes of the membership. We know that there are a multitude of factors that need to be reviewed when exploring healthcare changes. We are certain that the OP&F Board have reviewed many of these factors. On behalf of the FOP of Ohio, and our 23,000 members, we look forward to working with the OP&F Pension Fund to review the various options for sustaining healthcare for our current and future retirees. It is our goal to educate all the parties so that the ultimate decisions that are made are the best for all the members of the system.
There is a lot of information to be obtained and many questions that are still not answered and the FOP of Ohio is diligently working with the Pension Board to obtain additional information and seek the best solution. We will keep the membership updated. It is our hope that we will continue to work on this with our members and the OP&F Board throughout the summer months and have an informational presentation to our membership at the State FOP Conference on June 11th.
https://www.op-f.org/Information/ViewNews.aspx?Id=5903
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