SEMO retirees worried about insurance costs

Rising health insurance costs have frustrated Southeast Missouri State University retirees who see costly premiums eating away at their bank accounts.

And it's getting worse, says retired education professor Charles Ireland of Jackson. Jackson said the monthly premium he pays for health coverage for his wife and himself has jumped from $474 a month in December 2001 to $733 a month as of August. In January, Ireland will be paying $890 a month for health insurance -- or $10,680 a year.

"I am aggravated by it," said the 61-year-old Ireland who began teaching at Southeast in 1975 and retired in 1997.

Ireland said he never expected such premium increases.

Retirees' frustrations over rising insurance premiums comes at a time when Southeast employees also are facing increased costs for health coverage provided by a consortium of colleges that includes the Cape Girardeau school.

Robert Lurker, an instructor in the School of Polytechnic Studies at Southeast, said earlier this week that he couldn't afford to pay $2,652 more in premiums to provide health insurance for his wife. The total bill, he said, would be $3,600 a year.

Hard-hit retirees

The university picks up the premium cost for all of the school's approximately 1,100 employees, but employees have to pay monthly premiums if they want their families covered by health insurance.

Ireland said retirees have to pay their own premiums as well as those of any family members they want covered.

Ireland and other retirees under the age of 65 are hardest-hit among retirees who are members of the Missouri State Colleges & Universities Group Insurance Consortium. The plan covers over 7,500 employees, retirees and dependents at public colleges and universities, including Southeast. Of that total, 750 are retirees, including over 200 who worked at Southeast.

The consortium is a self-funded insurance group, meaning premiums paid to the fund cover both insurance claims made by those in the group and the cost of administering the plan.

Pauline Fox, vice president of administration and enrollment management at Southeast, said premiums paid by retirees who aren't old enough to be covered by Medicare aren't covering the claims.

This past year, retirees under age 65 paid $957,000 in premiums to the consortium but the health insurance group paid claims from members of that age group totaling more than $1.3 million, Fox said.

As a result, the consortium is now charging retirees in that age group higher premiums than older retirees and current employees who also are being hit by increases, she said.

"It is not something that the university can control," she said. Health insurance costs are going up nationwide, Fox said.

Singled out

But Ireland feels retirees in his age group are being singled out unfairly from others covered by the insurance consortium.

Nancy Sublette, executive director of the consortium based in Columbia, Mo., understands the concerns of retirees.

"They are paying a huge amount, not just in our plan but everybody's plan," she said. "We are trying to figure out a way to ease that financial burden."

Health care costs are growing for retirees nationwide, including those over 65 years of age, she said. A key factor is the rising cost of prescription drugs, Sublette said.

Henry Sessoms, a retired English professor, said the rising premiums are a major concern for all retirees, but he said there doesn't appear to be any alternative at this point but to pay up.

Ireland said retirees can't afford to go without health insurance.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123