Will Governor Abbott declare TRS healthcare an emergency item in January?

            In 22 days, the 86^th Texas Legislature will convene in Austin.  Will Gov. Greg Abbott declare the healthcare nightmare Texas public-school retirees have been living since January an emergency item?  That is the focus of Rep. Terry Canales’ December 12 letter to the governor and the question most of us living that nightmare are asking.

            The Texas Constitution prohibits the House and Senate from passing any legislation within the first 60 days of the legislative session unless 1) four-fifths of the members of either chamber vote to bypass that law or 2) the governor declares an item an emergency.  Without a doubt, TRS healthcare is an emergency. 

            I have written extensively about how the 85^th Texas Legislature created this nightmare.  (Once again, I must stress that we are not just talking teachers here.  Although it is (mis)named the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, TRS is actually the retirement system for all public-school retirees, from teachers to custodians to secretaries to librarians to nurses to maintenance workers to bus drivers to classroom aides to sign-language interpreters to administrators.) First, they increased the deductible for those of us under 65 from $400 to $1500.  For TRS retirees who have a spouse on their plan, their deductible is now $3000—not $1500 per person but the full $3000.  In addition, that deductible applies to both healthcare and prescription drugs (except a list of standard, generic drugs).  And, we now have no copay until 100 percent of our deductible is met. 

            Take me, for example.  I avoided doctors throughout the year because of what the Texas Legislature has done.  However, there were two appointments I could not avoid.  The total cost for those two appointments was approximately $1400 after plan adjustments by the provider.  What does that mean?  That means I have had to make payments and pay 100 percent of those bills because I have not met my deductible.  TRS has not paid a single penny.  And I am one of the lucky ones.

            I have written a number of heartbreaking stories this year about TRS retirees who have suffered at the hands of our Texas Legislature.  Keep in mind that while they dramatically changed the “affordable healthcare” we were promised throughout our careers in the public-education system, the healthcare for those in ERS—the retirement system for all other state employees, including, of course, retired legislators—had no change in deductible.  Oh, and theirs was not $400.  It was $0 for healthcare and $50 for prescription drugs.  And it still is.  Guess what their monthly premium is?  That’s $0, too!  That is heartless.  It is unconscionable.  It is shameful.

            It is not only public-ed retirees who are suffering, either.  Countless public-education employees who are still working are struggling to make ends meet because of their healthcare costs.  Not so those blessed with ERS healthcare.

            Here are just a few more reasons why Gov. Abbott should have already declared TRS an emergency item for the upcoming session:

·         According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average inflation rate is 2.16 percent a year.  Nevertheless, most TRS retirees have NEVER seen a COLA (cost-of-living increase).  During the 2013 Legislative Session, legislators granted a three percent COLA, not to exceed $100 per month, to TRS members who retired on or before August 31, 2004.  TRS retirees had not seen a COLA since 2001 until SB 1458 was passed in 2013.  This means that any public-education employee who retired in the past 14 years has never seen a COLA, despite the inflation rate.  Never.

·         The State of Texas contributes only 6.8 percent to TRS pensions.  Remember that most Texas public-ed employees do not pay into Social Security.  Thus, our TRS pensions are our sole source of retirement income.  According to a July 24 article in Texas Tribune, the median state contribution to the public-ed retirees’ pensions for the other 14 non-Social-Security states is 19 percent.  That is just under three times greater than Texas’ contribution.  The state contribution for ERS—their own retirement system--is 9.5 percent. 

·         Over 30,000 TRS retirees have left TRS-Care (our healthcare) since January 1 when the nightmare began.

·         More later on what I have to do to have vision and dental coverage compared to what the state provides ERS retirees (AGAIN, which includes our retired legislators).

            Rather than summarize Rep. Canales’ letter to the governor, I am including it here.  It is powerful.  It is poignant.  It is on point.

            For an entire year, we have been living this healthcare nightmare, and Gov. Abbott has not addressed us about it.  Not once in an entire year, despite the stories, despite the suffering.  Rather, he has remained silent, as if our nightmare does not exist.

            So the question remains—will he declare our nightmare an emergency now?

Chris Ardis retired in May of 2013 following a 29-year teaching career. She now helps companies with business communications and social media and works as a sales coordinator for Tony Roma's and Macaroni Grill. She is also the retiree representative for McAllen AFT.  Chris can be reached at cardis1022@aol.com. (Photo by Linda Blackwell, McAllen)