Sept. 16–Memphis City Council chairman Jim Strickland and council member Shea Flinn proposed a resolution that would partially reverse retiree health care cuts they voted for earlier this year, and they quickly convinced the council to pass it Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 10-0, with one abstention.
Earlier Tuesday, council member Janis Fullilove circulated a draft resolution that also would undo some of the retiree and employee health care cuts. The council also unanimously voted in favor of Fullilove’s resolution, but the fight over benefits appeared likely to continue in council and in courts for months, possibly years, to come.
The Strickland-Flinn proposal would provide health insurance subsidies to retirees younger than 65 who cannot currently get health coverage through their employer or their spouse’s employer. The subsidy would last at least one year, and longer in cases of disability.
Strickland said the proposal would affect about 300 people. The proposal represents one of the most significant actions since the City Council approved big cuts to retiree and employee health care earlier this year.
Both Strickland and Flinn supported the cuts.
“We got a couple of emails from retirees under 65 who had stage 3 or stage 4 cancer,” and couldn’t get health insurance, Strickland said. “It just felt for me the right thing to do was continue coverage for those folks.”
The proposal doesn’t address other retirees. Under the existing cuts, those who are over 65 and eligible for Medicare would be shifted into Medigap policies. And those who are over 65 and not eligible for Medicare would be able to keep subsidized city health care.
Strickland and Flinn discussed the proposal in Strickland’s office Tuesday afternoon with union representatives and the president of the retirees’ association. The state open meetings law restricts lawmakers from deliberating toward a decision outside of a public meeting.
Strickland said they were explaining the proposal to the employee and retiree representatives. Strickland said he and Flinn had separate prior meetings with the mayor’s administration.
Fullilove’s proposal would return health care subsidies to retirees younger than 65, while Medicare-eligible retirees older than 65 would get a 40 percent subsidy for Medigap coverage.
A 24 percent premium increase that went into effect this month for both retirees and employees would remain.
The Strickland/Flinn proposal also leaves this in place.
The proposals Tuesday mark some of the first concrete efforts to adjust the June 17 cuts, which triggered vehement protests from retirees, employees, their family members and labor unions. The council took the unusual step in July of reopening its process to anyone who could suggest alternatives. Council members have reviewed various proposals for hours without taking any action. Last week, council members appeared disinclined to take any action to reverse the cuts. A committee meeting drew just four of the 13 council members, and only two stayed until the end.
Fullilove’s resolution doesn’t explain in detail how the city would fund it. She is one of the council members with the closest ties to police and fire labor unions — she even wore a fire department T-shirt to Tuesday’s meeting.
The changes didn’t go far enough for some retirees. “Just cover everybody, like you’re supposed to from the start, like we’ve agreed upon years and years ago!” 65-year-old firefighter retiree Robert Zachar shouted during the public comment period.
At the same time, the fight over health care benefits moved to court. Fire union president Thomas Malone confirmed that his association and other groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning in Chancery Court, seeking to force the city to pay retiree health care costs.
Advocates for retirees had threatened lawsuits earlier this summer, but had held off pending resolution of the talks.