The cost of retiree health benefits is a growing concern for elected officials in Maryland counties and in counties across the nation. The rising cost of health care will force more states and localities to address their costs and unfunded liabilities in the coming years,  specialists at Governing magazine predict. At MACo, we track issues related to retiree health benefits and their impact on state and county budgets.

Anne Arundel County’s Council recently passed a bill reforming Anne Arundel County employees’ retiree health benefits, the Capital Gazette reported.  As described,

The bill establishes a grading scale depending on when employees were hired, when they retire and how long they worked for the county. Under the current plan, employees who are not in public safety can vest in benefits after five years and with the county paying 80 percent of the costs.

The bill will now be sent to the County Executive.  For more information, read the bill and accompanying notes from auditors online and our past post, Another Look at Anne Arundel’s Retiree Health Benefits.

For information on Maryland counties’ current retiree health benefit offerings, see MACo’s 2014 Salary, Pension, and Retiree Health Benefit Survey.