Health Insurance

Under Massachusetts law, health insurance for our retirees and their beneficiaries is provided through the retiree’s former employer.  The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that an employer may implement a policy which would preclude participation in the employer’s health insurance plan if the retiree was not enrolled in the health plan prior to or at the time of retirement.  See, Joanne Cioch v. Treasurer of Ludlow, 449 Mass. 690 (2007).

Accordingly, active members who are contemplating retirement, and who do not participate in the employer’s health insurance plan, should determine their employer’s policy regarding post-retirement health plan enrollment.  Likewise, retirees who do not currently participate in their former employer’s health plan, but may wish to do so in the future, should learn whether this option is allowed by their former employer.