UI to trim retirees’ insurance benefits

MOSCOW, Idaho – To save money, the University of Idaho is cutting back health and life insurance benefits for retirees.

Tim White, the university’s president, said increased costs and a change in accounting methods will, without the cuts, cost the school $222 million.

“To put that number into context, that is 70 percent of our total annual operating budget,” White told retirees at a Monday meeting, the Lewiston Tribune reported.

The school is putting in a four-tiered system that mostly keeps intact coverage for current retirees and those near retirement but charges more.

Newer employees in the bottom three tiers will also pay more for coverage and will have to work longer to be eligible to receive benefits.

White said those changes will reduce the $222 million cost to $99 million.

Retirees had varying reactions to the changes.

“It seemed pretty reasonable, considering the perilous times we’re in,” said 83-year-old John Sullivan, a retired German and Spanish professor.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, said they blamed rising health care costs and not the university.

David Walker, 62, said the reason he accepted early retirement in 2002 was because he said he was promised benefits that wouldn’t change.

“I’m troubled that the university can renege on a long-standing promise so easily,” the retired agricultural economist said.

“There’s a very fine line between taking it away totally, and pricing it out of the reach of retirees.

“At some point, you can price it so high that you might as well take it away,” he said.

Members of UI’s benefits task force, which helped develop the changes, said language in the contracts allows the university to change the benefits as it sees fit.

“I feel very good about what we did and how we did it,” said Peter Haggart, a retired communications professor and a member of the task force.