New educational sessions on tap
Regional sessions will address pension, health care issues
By Marc Tubbs, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
Sept. 5, 2019 – The OPERS Education team is rolling out new, regional seminars to update members and retirees on the latest news regarding pensions and health care.
The sessions will include information on open enrollment for 2020, the status of pension and health care funding and proposed health care changes being considered by the OPERS Board of Trustees. The presenters will be a combination of OPERS executives and members of the Education team.
OPERS will conduct these education events regionally around Ohio through the end of 2019. The typical format will be a 10 a.m. session for both pre-Medicare and Medicare retirees, a 2 p.m. session for the same group, and a 6 p.m. session for active members who are within five years of retirement eligibility.
You can receive location-specific information and register for the seminars through your online account or by calling us at 800-222-7377.
We’ll also be conducting webinars for retirees and active members on the same topics.
The new seminars kick off this week with sessions in Independence. Here’s the remainder of the seminar and webinar schedules:
| OPERS Seminars and Webinars | ||
|---|---|---|
| Seminars | ||
| September | Date | Location |
| Sept. 10 | Hillard | |
| Sept. 11 | Hilliard | |
| October | Date | Location |
| Northeast region | ||
| Oct. 1 | Westlake | |
| Oct. 2 | Mentor | |
| Oct. 3 | Cuyahoga County | |
| Oct. 8 | Rootstown | |
| Oct. 9 | Akron | |
| Oct. 10 | Bellville | |
| Northwest region | ||
| Oct. 22 | Toledo | |
| Oct. 23 | Findlay | |
| Oct. 24 | Lima | |
| Central region | ||
| Oct. 29 | Hilliard | |
| Oct. 30 | Worthington | |
| Oct. 31 | Zanesville | |
| November | Date | Location |
| Southwest region | ||
| Nov. 5 | West Chester | |
| Nov. 6 | Beaver Creek | |
| Nov. 12 | Eastgate | |
| Nov. 13 | Sharonville | |
| December | Date | Location |
| Southeast region | ||
| Dec. 3 | Athens | |
| Dec. 4 | Portsmouth | |
| Dec. 5 | Chillicothe | |
| Webinars | ||
| Out-of-state retirees | ||
| Oct. 28, noon | ||
| All retirees | ||
| Nov. 8, noon | ||
| Nov. 25, noon | ||
| Dec. 9, noon | ||
| Active members | ||
| Oct. 28, 2 p.m. | ||
| Nov. 8, 2 p.m. | ||
| Nov. 25, 2 p.m. | ||
| Dec. 9, 2 p.m. |
Marc Tubbs
Marc Tubbs is the manager of OPERS’ Education division. He oversees the development and delivery of educational content that helps members and retirees make sound financial-wellness and retirement-related decisions.
I went online I don’t see any links for registrations for these meetings in my account. I was looking at the Oct 8 meeting assuming since it’s Rootstown it might be held at NEOMED. Please post the link for registration
You can find the dates and locations of the Open Enrollment and Health Care Update seminars in the Member education Center, https://www.opers.org/retirees/education/retiree-health-care-updates.shtml. You can register online through your Online Account or by calling us at 1-800-222-7377.
You can find the dates and locations of the Open Enrollment and Health Care Update seminars in the Member Education Center, https://www.opers.org/retirees/education/retiree-health-care-updates.shtml. You can register online with your Online Account or by calling us at 1-800-222-7377.
Since I live in a very rural area, I’m very happy to see that you will be offering a webinar. Will there be some type of registration required in order to participate in the webinar? Your article didn’t address this. Thanks so much for making the webinar available. ?
Beverly,
Thanks for asking. Scroll to the bottom of this link to sign up for a webinar.
–Ohio PERS
With the increases in health care costs, the adjustments for the allowance in our HRA account in 2022, is there any proposals being considered for members to add money into their HRA accounts to cover these reductions & health care costs?
Can you have any webinars in the evenings? Some of us still work and are working out of state and are unable to attend the seminars or watch the webinars.
Katherine,
We’ve tried evening webinars, but they were very poorly attended. We are offering evening live meetings around the state. Check out the educational offerings section on our website.
–Ohio PERS
I live in Florida. These seminars won’t work. Do you have written transcripts or notes from the webinars that can be given to those who can’t attend but want the information?
Katherine,
We do not. Read our Board Updates monthly for the latest from our board meetings. You also can view a video presentation on this page, where the webinar schedule is found. Again, we’re holding several upcoming webinars.
–Ohio PERS
I attended a seminar in Columbus at ODOT. The speakers in the seminars need to be more clear in explaining what the board is recommending. Healthcare as we all know it is going away. OPERS is switching from a self funded group plan where OPERS would cover a portion of heath care cost to a cash stipend with a base allowance of $600 or $900, which in reality for anyone with 30 years of service and under 65 years old is really $426 (71% of $600) or $639 (71% of $900) . This stipend is not a health care plan. It is a cash supplement and the members are left on their own to seek their own health care plan. Just as important, no one is grandfathered and all pre-medicare retirees and future retirees will lose group healthcare effective January 1, 2022
Phil,
Thanks for the input. Health care changes are being considered, although nothing at this point has been decided.
–Ohio PERS