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By MELISSA M. JANOSKI melissaj@leader.net
Saturday, February 05, 2000 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE – Retired Wilkes-Barre elected officials receive better health
insurance benefits from the city than former governors get from the state.
Wilkes-Barre provides free lifetime health insurance to former officials
with 10 years service as mayor, controller or council member.
That’s more generous than benefits provided to the governor and officials
of several cities surveyed Friday.
Retired Pennsylvania governors are entitled to free lifetime health
insurance only if they put in 15 years as a state employee and retire at age
60 or older, or if they work for the state for 25 years, said Scott Elliott,
spokesman for the governor’s Office of Administration.
Mayor Tom McGroarty is putting health insurance costs at the heart of his
budget negotiations with the City Council. A special council meeting to
discuss insurance costs is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 12, at City Hall.
Here is how other cities handle health insurance for officials:
York allows retired officials with 10 years of service to join the pension
plan. That entitles them to purchase health insurance at age 60 or older. The
cost is $8.16 a month for those over 65, $58 for younger retirees.
York has a population of 39,000; Wilkes-Barre has a population of 42,000.
Bethlehem, population 69,000, doesn’t provide insurance to council
members. Retired mayors and other full-time elected officials can receive
insurance if they join the pension plan and serve at least 12 years. The
insurance stops at age 65.
Allentown, population 100,000, also does not provide insurance for council
members. Retired full-time employees, such as the mayor, can get insurance in
retirement, but there are several restrictions. They must have served 20 years
and agreed to pay 25 percent of the cost. Insurance is available only between
ages 55 and 65.
Hazleton, population 24,000, allows officials to buy insurance at the
city’s group rate for 18 months after leaving office.
Nanticoke, Kingston and Pittston do not provide insurance to present or
retired officials. They all have populations less than half that of
Wilkes-Barre.
It is unclear when Wilkes-Barre began giving insurance to retired
officials. The first to use the benefit apparently was former Mayor Lee Namey.
When he left office in 1996, he began receiving a buyout, a reward for saving
the city the cost of insurance. Last year, the buyout was $1,020.
In January, Namey, former Controller Mercedes Leighton and former
Councilman Phil McCabe signed up for insurance. This year, it will cost the
city more than $13,000.
Six of the city’s nine elected officials have the 10 years of service
needed to qualify for insurance or will have it when their terms expire.
McGroarty has vowed not to take the insurance in retirement.
Call Janoski at 831-7331.