2022 12:01 am . Ned Lamont's administration. Your co-pay will remain the same as it is today. Governor Lamont justified these bonuses as a means to retain workers, House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said. The organization of state employee union leaders said the states workforce has shrunk by more than 20% since the recession of 2007-09, not including thousands more expected to retire by July 1. By Red Jahncke . These retirees currently contribute to the cost of their insurance (as well as coverage for enrolled dependents) at the following rates: from 0% to 1.5% for hazardous duty retirees and retirees with 25 or more years of service; from 1.5% to 3% for all others. View a list of Connecticut State Departments and Agencies, Constitutional Offices, and more. SERS members who reach Normal Retirement Age before July 1, 2022; and members who grandfathered, by purchasing the right to retire under the current Normal Retirement Age rules. For 2021, IRMAAs ranged from $71.70 per month, for those whose income was equal to the threshold amount, to $433.50 per month, for the highest earners. State government not only enjoys a $3.1 billion rainy day fund, equal to 15% of annual operating costs the maximum allowed by law but the current fiscal year is on pace to close an unprecedented $4 billion in the black. The pay raise amounts. Preferred Provider program will be beginning soon. 02. The contracts allow workers to accept the $2,500 extra payment and still retire before July 1. Get CT Mirror emails in your inbox daily. Therefore, every member who retires after the Effective Date will be eligible to receive his or her first COLA after exactly thirty months of retirement.3. Yesterday marked the second and final day of the arbitration hearing between SEBAC and the State of Connecticut over the amount of pandemic pay due to frontline essential state employees. Please note, however, that grandfathered employees are not exempt from the changes relating to health insurance and COLAs. They should not affect the retirement planning of most SERS members, including: members who reach Normal Retirement Age before July 1, 2022; and. Fiscal Year End Job Aid for HRMS. Preferred in-network specialists are currently available for ten medical specialties: Your Doctor Might Already Be Preferred. This memorandum will help you explain the 2022 Changes to employees who are planning their retirement by clarifying the following key facts: Taken together, what these facts show is that only a very limited number of employees who were planning to retire after the Effective Date may gain a clear advantage by changing their retirement strategy. Tier 1 (generic): $0 copay Will these changes have a negative effect on my retirement? Highlights for 2022 . You cannot be supportive of state workers and the services they provide without being supportive of the necessary funding to ensure that these positions are properly staffed, SEBAC wrote in a statement following the vote. It is different from the federal program w The precise effect is impossible to forecast, because it depends on such matters as future rates of inflation, future costs of health insurance and Medicare, and the number of years each employees retirement will last. Gov. If more than 5 years early, use 5. "Agreement Between the Torrington Board of Education and the Torrington Education Association." July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2021. This deal was billed as a retention effort, said Rep. Laura Devlin, R- Fairfield, who is campaigning for lieutenant governor as the running mate of GOP gubernatorial contender Bob Stefanowski of Madison. State finances also are being supported this fiscal year and next by about $3 billion in emergency federal pandemic relief. 3 Please note that in order to qualify for an annual SERS COLA, a member must complete at least 10 years of actual state service or transition directly into retirement. Salary scales define each of the payroll system salary structures (grades and steps) on an annual, bi-weekly, and hourly basis. Plans are designed for businesses with 2 to 50 employees. Anthem and United Healthcare/Oxford will have a new designation for in-network providers. percent (2.5%) increase plus step increases, annual increments or . Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Its nothing more than a handout.. The changes to Normal Retirement Age will have an impact only on certain members of Tiers II and IIA. In the Keynesian view, aggregate demand does not necessarily equal the productive capacity of the economy. We are pleased to share that the only change made for 2022 is a slight increase to dental rates. For the Leave Donation form please click here. The amount of each COLA is calculated under a formula that accounts for a percentage of the national rate of inflation for the 12-month period that precedes the adjustment. The first states that COLAs may be awarded only on January 1 or July 1 of each year. Very truly yours, Our Connecticut small business health insurance plans provide your employees access to the right doctors, benefits, tools, and support to simplify their health journey and help keep your business running. These are not job openings. Administration officials estimate the wage increases and bonuses would cost $287 million more this fiscal year, and $403 million above 2020-21 levels next fiscal year. He pointed out that under the 2017 deal, state employees gave up a number of concessions and accepted zero raises and zero step increases in six of the last 12 years given the state's financial state. The percentages cited above are percentages of employees insurance premiums, The effect of this change on any given retiree is. Action Reason Codes. Departments and Agencies HEP encourages you to take an active role in your health by getting age appropriate wellness exams and screenings. You'll pay nothing for medications and supplies used to treat diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2). Some of the features on CT.gov will not function properly with out javascript enabled. When that expires in 2024, the states fiscal position could turn, some lawmakers argue, particularly if the national inflation rate which topped 7% last year and exceeds 8% early in 2022 remains high. While Connecticut does not charge Medicare members for the MAPD, the federal government charges a premium for Medicare Part B. Add/Update an Employee's Driver's License. Find a Listing of State Compensation Plans. The state and unions have the option of continuing the same level of raises for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, or they can negotiate different compensation levels. State and union officials are expected to meet again in the fourth year to negotiate wages. To find a Preferred provider, visit www.Anthem.com/statect or www.welcometouhc.com/stateofct. Add/Update Employee/Dependent Address. And that was before surging state income and business tax receipts pushed this fiscal years surplus from $2.7 billion to $4 billion. There will be no changes to HEP, including copay amounts for drugs used to treat HEP targeted chronic conditions which include diabetes, asthma or COPD, heart disease/heart failure, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) or hypertension (high blood pressure). Hartford lawyer Daniel Livingston, chief negotiator for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, or SEBAC, estimated that going with one-time bonuses and a smaller, 2.5% annual cost-of-living raise saves the state about $150 million over the next decade. The coalition, which represents most state employee unions excluding the state police, added that, It is a critical step in resolving the current staffing crisis that is the consequence of decades of disinvestment and austerity., Lamont spokeswoman Lora Rae Anderson said, Were happy the House has passed the SEBAC agreement, and we are hopeful the Senate will do the same.. Copyright 2002 - 2021 Office of the State Comptroller, https://www.osc.ct.gov/empret/tier2summ/workshop/disclaimer.htm. The Democrat-controlled House voted 96-52 to approve the contracts, following a four-hour debate during which Republicans insisted thecompensation far outstrips what private-sector workers are receiving, or what taxpayers can afford. Department of Administration. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut. The vote was almost entirely along party lines, with all Democrats casting ballots for the deal and only one Republican, Thomas Delnicki of South Windsor, supporting it. Please also take note of the following important facts about these changes: Each of the 2022 Changes potentially affects the amount certain employees will receive from the state over the course of their retirement. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Checklist for Terminating an Employee. That, in turn, determines (i) whether the members pension will reflect an Early Retirement reduction, and (ii) whether the member will pay an Early Retirement rate (i.e., the rates listed on Appendix A to this memorandum) for retiree health coverage. According to state employee union documents, Lamont is proposing to award all unionized state employees three annual base salary increases of 2.5 percent and, for about two-thirds of. These are deeply personal questions, but each employee should be encouraged to consider them. We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. Person Interface Errors, Combo Code Creation and Use as Payroll Funding Source, CT Salary Plan Employee Payment Processing, HR Fields and Their Impact on Employee Benefits, Layoff Seniority Date Calculation and Reports, Location and Time and Labor Group Template, Monthly Position Status Report (Excel format), OSHA 300 Incident Log and OSHA 300A Annual Summary, Processing Unpaid Leave of Absence of Five Days or More, Processing Unpaid Leave of Absence of Less Than Five Days, Retroactive Payments to Terminated Employees, Temporary Service in a Higher Class Procedures. Employees Retirement System (also known as SERS). State finances also are being supported this fiscal year and next by about $3 billion in emergency federal pandemic relief. 5 Likewise, for those members of the Alternate Retirement Program (ARP) that are subject to the rates listed on Appendix A, there will be no change to the Normal Retirement Ages used to determine the applicable rate. Effective July 1, 2022, full-time employees who are active and in the bargaining unit shall receive a $1,000 (one . Some of the features on CT.gov will not function properly with out javascript enabled. Two-step increases (an increase of around 4.8% total) - 1 step increase as soon as we ratify the contract, the other in July 2022 or January 2023 - whenever you "should" or have gotten your step in the past. Arms crossed, Rep. Michael D'Agostino, D-Hamden, listens to a question by Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, about the SEBAC deal. 2023 The Conneticut News Project. Under a Normal Retirement, the monthly pension payable to a SERS member is calculated under a formula that this document will call the , Under an Early Retirement, the members pension is calculated by (i) applying the Normal Retirement Formula, and then (ii). If Otherwise, you'll pay 20% of the cost for Non-Preferred in-network services, or 40% of the cost for out-of-network services (POS Plan only). Human Resources Job Aids. 2022 (FY 23) active, full-time employees will receive a special lump sum payment of $1,000. Thats when more stringent limits on state retirement benefits, negotiated as part of a 2017 concessions deal with unions, take effect. It also includes fringe costs for each employee (fringe includes health care, retirement benefits and other benefit costs paid by the state on behalf of employees, as well as catch-up payments to pay down unfunded liabilities*). With one limited exception, every employee who retires on or after August 1, 2022, will be subject to the 2022 Changes. Additionally, COLAs will no longer be limited to January and July. The contracts, which Gov. After an enrolled member of the state retiree health plan provides proof of his or her enrollment in Medicare, and after the amount of the retirees Medicare premiums has been verified, the state will reimburse the retiree for the entire amount he or she pays in premiums to Medicareboth the standard premium for Part B and any IRMAA for Parts B and D. In thinking about the 2022 Changes, it is important to keep two dates in mind. The $3 billion in budget reserves and $4 billion in projected surplus pales in comparison with the $95.4 billion in long-term unfunded obligations Connecticut has, ODea said, referring to the combined pension, retirement health care and bonded debt the Lamont administration listed last November in its annual Fiscal Accountability Report. The 2022 Changes will also make two changes to the way COLAs are awarded to SERS retirees. Each retirement plan in SERS (including the Hybrid Plans) specifies a certain age as Normal Retirement Age. No early retirement health care premium will be charged for any employee who has 25 years of service as of July 1, 2011 who retires before July 1, 2013. Ned Lamonts administration on Friday transmitted agreements reached on 35 labor contracts that cover 43,000 unionized state employees to the General Assembly for consideration. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). They could be eligible for annual salary increases worth between $4,100 and nearly $11,000. These are not job openings. But according to data released Friday from the comptrollers office, 2,086 workers have retired so far this calendar year, and another 1,330 have filed written notices of their intentions to retire before July 1. Copyright 2002 - 2017 Office of the State Comptroller, Available in Anthem's and United Healthcare/Oxford's Network, Select list of in-network specialists in one of ten medical specialties, Have a non-life-threatening medical concern or long term condition, or need a routine checkup, $0 copay for Preferred in-network providers; $15 copay for Non-Preferred in-network providers, Need medical guidance or information related to a symptom, treatment or surgery, Have a non-life-threatening minor ailment such as a cold, ear infections or sore throat, Have a condition that is more than minor but not life-threatening (e.g., cuts or other superficial wounds, moderate burns sprains), Have a life-threatening concern such as shortness of breath, severe chest pain, severe wound or broken bone, $250 copay; In certain circumstances, including actual emergencies or if you're admitted to the hospital, your copay will be waived. ** The Family Less Employed Spouse (FLES) rate is available only when both spouses are enrolled in active coverage, eligible for health insurance, and enrolled in the same plan with at least one child. . Each bargaining unit received a three-year deal, retroactive to last July 1, that includes a 2.5% general wage increase, a step hike for all employees except the most experienced, and a two-stage bonus.