Suit filed to protect health care for state retirees

AFSCME Council 31 has joined with other unions representing state of Illinois and state university employees in backing a class action lawsuit against Senate Bill 1313, the new law that eliminates the existing premium structure for the State Employees Group Health Insurance Plan and threatens to saddle state and university retirees with unaffordable premium increases.

The lawsuit was filed last week in Randolph County Circuit Court. In it, a group of active and retired state and university employees acting as representative plaintiffs charge that Senate Bill 1313 violates the Illinois Constitution.

First, the suit argues that state employees and retirees have contractual rights to the sliding fee schedule for retiree health premiums provided in state law and union contracts. Those who retired before 1998 pay no individual premium if they worked for the state for at least eight years; those who retired later receive premium-free single coverage after 20 years. By invalidating this contractual right, the suit contends, SB 1313 violates the Illinois Constitution, which provides that the state may make “no … law impairing the obligation of contracts.”

Second, the suit notes that state law provides retirees with access to health insurance “by virtue of their membership and participation in the State Employees Retirement System and the State Universities Retirement System.” As a result, we argue, SB 1313 also violates the constitutional clause that defines “Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State” as “an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”

Other unions backing the lawsuit are the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Nurses Association and Troopers Lodge 41/Fraternal Order of Police.