Correction appended.
As university health care costs around the nation continue to increase, Brown faces lower costs than some of its peers because it does not subsidize health care for retirees older than 65. But many faculty and staff see the lack of retiree health plans as a reason to delay retirement.
The University has sought to "keep costs from rising too dramatically" without "diminishing the benefits" for employees, said Drew Murphy, director of benefits for human resources.
Because the University has not subsidized over-65 retiree health care since 1994, it has not found itself as overwhelmed as other institutions that offer more extensive retirement health care plans. Harvard, for example, is facing a $812 million liability for retiree health benefits alone, according to a March Boston Globe article.
But at the same time, the University's lack of retiree health benefits poses "a huge obstacle to faculty and staff when they get into that age bracket," said Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P'12.
Elizabeth Doherty, senior associate dean of the faculty, wrote in an email to The Herald that "virtually all (faculty members) express concern about the cost of health care coverage and wish that Brown provided this benefit to retirees."
Faculty and staff who retire after the age of 65 can choose between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans, but they must pay premiums on their own, Murphy said. Neither plan is subsidized by the University.
Employees who retire between the ages of 55 and 65 with at least 10 years of service to the University can receive an early retirement health care plan, which offers an $83-per-month subsidy with the rest of the premium paid by the retiree.
Karen McAninch '74, business agent for the United Service and Allied Workers, which represents University library and facilities staff, said the University contribution to the early retirement health plan is "small in comparison" to premiums between $400 and $1400 per month, depending on the number of persons on the plan.
"You would think they would do better than that," said Suzan Gervais, senior library specialist. "It's pennies. It's like not offering any help at all."
In order to be able to afford health care when she retires around the age of 70, Gervais said she will have to increase deductions from her current pay checks, which means "less money to spend now."
Christmas Moore, senior library specialist for technical services, wrote in an email to The Herald that while she had hoped to retire at age 66, she now foresees herself working until she is 70. But health care costs are not the determining factor in that decision, she wrote — rather, she simply cannot live without her salary.
"The cost of health care, on top of all the other negatives, was more just a nasty version of the icing on the cake," she wrote.
There are currently 72 retirees and 19 dependents on the early retiree health plan, Kim Almeida, benefits financial manager, wrote in an email to The Herald. The number of post-65 retirees on the Medicare plans is not readily available because the University is not directly involved with the plan.
The University offered an additional incentive for early retirement for non-faculty members from Nov. 9, 2009 to Dec. 23, 2009. According to a November 2009 University press release, non-faculty employees over the age of 60 could receive a lump-sum equivalent to one year's salary and $15,000 to "support the transition to retirement." The incentive was offered in addition to the $83-per-month health care subsidy and the option to remain on their current health care plans until age 65.
But some staff members say that even the incentive was not enough to comfortably afford health care after retirement.
"For me, it wouldn't have worked out because it wasn't enough," said a library services worker approaching retirement, who asked that her name be withheld. "I'm not going to say it is the only reason I can't retire yet, but for me, it just isn't enough."
But on the faculty side, Doherty wrote that in her experience, no faculty member has delayed retirement solely because of health care.
"The decision to retire is a complex and personal one, and a lot of factors shape it," she wrote.
— With additional reporting by Margaret Nickens
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the University still offers an additional early retirement incentive for non-faculty members. In fact, this incentive was only offered from Nov. 9, 2009 to Dec. 23, 2009. The Herald regrets the error.
