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Posted on Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 9:13 a.m.

University of Michigan announces future changes to retiree health benefits

By David Jesse

The University of Michigan has announced changes to its retiree health benefits, including a new way of determining when employees are eligible to retire with health benefits.

The university will also gradually reduce its percentage contribution toward retiree health benefits starting in 2013

The university's Record Update has a href="http://www.ur.umich.edu/update/archives/110211/retire">breakdown of all the changes..

University officials estimate the moves will result in recurring annual savings of more than $9 million by the year 2020 and $165 million by 2040.

Comments

BobbyJohn

Sun, Feb 13, 2011 : 10:13 p.m.

The pay scale is more or less fair for workers, It is the retirement and health benefits that are WAY out of line and need reductions.

tim

Sat, Feb 12, 2011 : 6:28 p.m.

Hopefully at some point we will have a great public health care program for all and we won't have to pay hundreds of thousands in health insurance costs for people that work 30 years and out. These legacy costs could be cut by 50% with universal health care.

trespass

Sat, Feb 12, 2011 : 4:33 p.m.

The process may have started two years ago but the faculty representatives (and other members, I presume) were sworn to secrecy. I don't think that representatives of the faculty or others should be sworn to secrecy so that the decisions can be made in secret and only revealed after it is a done deal. The Board of Regents will point to this as a great accomplishment in cost savings but it is just a shifting of costs to employees and retirees. It is just like the cost savings they bragged about when they increased the contributions for health insurance from 20% to 30%. Then they claimed that President Coleman only got a 3% raise when she also got another $100,000/yr (tax free) in delayed compensation.

sandy schopbach

Sat, Feb 12, 2011 : 2:22 p.m.

I have to agree with the other 8 comments (at this point): this is outrageously unfair. The people at the top are making lots of money. Huge sports facilities are being built. And to pay for all this, which is not essential stuff, not really, U-M stints on retiree health benefits. It's easy to see what the priorities have become. Let's not worry about what kind of living conditions we offer the people who worked for us and got us to where we are. They'll be old by then and won't be working for us any more so we won't have to run into them in the offices and corridors. Which would be embarassing, wouldn't it? And no, I don't now, nor never have, worked for U-M, so I'm not preaching for my parish. It's just that this is not right, not right at all.

A2lover

Sat, Feb 12, 2011 : 1:06 p.m.

Typical U of M arrogance. Increase the outrageous compensation of the higher ups, reduce the contribution to the peasants below. The ultimate ignorance and arrogance of course is that the the University never acknowledges or addresses these comments or concerns from the lower echelons of faculty and staff. Business as usual - we do it one way, the way we want to.

15crown00

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 11:26 p.m.

as usual the little guy gets screwed again.

Bertha Venation

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 7:27 p.m.

I work at the U, and am very far from a top salary holder (believe me!). I agree. I wish they would scale back the executive salaries, and help save some of us worker droans.

Long Time No See

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 7:12 p.m.

For those who can't seem to avoid equating correlation with causation, I'd like to point out that this announcement is just one part of a process that began more than two years ago. <a href="http://www.benefitsstewardship.umich.edu/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.benefitsstewardship.umich.edu/</a>

jcj

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 5:13 p.m.

I would have no problem with them scaling back future contributions. (of course I do not work for the U of M) IF they would STOP or scale back the run away salaries at the top!

David Briegel

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 4:57 p.m.

Now there will be sufficient funding for executive salaries.

Bertha Venation

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 7:28 p.m.

OOO, you got THAT _ _ _ _ right, David!

Forever27

Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 2:59 p.m.

I find it interesting that this article follows on the heels of an article about how the top people at the university are making ridiculous amounts of money.