Wayne County Reaches Deal To Cut Retiree Health Care Costs
DETROIT (AP) - Wayne County and about 5,000 retirees have agreed to a deal that will cut their health care benefits and save the county about $20 million each year.
Officials say Wednesday that the annual costs to the county will be cut from $30 million to $10 million.
The county says the agreement includes the settlement of a retiree lawsuit accusing the county of reducing benefits contrary to union contracts.
About 80 percent of the retirees affected by the settlement are eligible to receive Medicare and will get $130 per month to buy supplemental Medicare health insurance. The remaining 20 percent are not yet Medicare eligible and will get a stipend for health insurance.
Wayne is Michigan's most populous county, with about 1.7 million residents. It faces a $52 million structural deficit.
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