Retired teachers: Texas lawmakers broke their promise on health care
Sue Schnars retired from the Pflugerville school district as a special education administrator in December with the understanding that she and her 41-year-old daughter with disabilities could live on her state retirement and health benefits.
Six months later, Texas lawmakers cut health benefits in a way that will hit retirees such as the 59-year-old Schnars the hardest. Come January, her deductible will be $3,000 — 10 times higher than it is now — and her insurance won’t cover nonpreventive visits to the doctor until she hits that ceiling.
“We serve your children, and we do it with love, and we show up every freaking day,” Schnars said. “With all this happening in the Legislature, it’s like, how can you break your promise?”
The state established the retired teacher health care plan in 1986 with enough funding to last through 2000. Since then, the system, which covers 270,000 retirees, has been at risk of going unfunded, requiring legislators almost every biennium to tinker with the system to keep it funded for the short term.
Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/retired-teachers-texas-lawmakers-broke-their-promise-health-care/Z9ANoxw4OTGLnVzgOoLu1J/
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