Paying for Coverage

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The cost for your healthcare coverage depends on the following factors:

  • Your County subsidy, based on completed years of service credit
  • Your program tier (Tier 1 for those hired through June 30, 2014; Tier 2 for those hired on or after July 1, 2014)
  • Your chosen healthcare plan
  • Your number of enrolled eligible dependents

All retired members are eligible for LACERA-administered retiree healthcare benefits, even if they are not eligible for the County subsidy. In such cases, these retirees are responsible for the full amount of the monthly insurance premiums.

County Contributions Based on Service Credit

The County subsidizes your medical and dental/vision insurance costs once you have 10 years of service credit. The subsidy applies toward enrollment in a LACERA-administered group health plan only, up to the benchmark plan rate. (When used in association with the healthcare premium subsidy, benchmark refers to the cost of a particular healthcare plan. This plan is the measure—the benchmark—to which the premium subsidy is applied.)

  • For members with 10 years of retirement service credit (excluding Additional Retirement Credit (ARC time) and reciprocity; with the exception of LACERS, the County contributes 40% of your healthcare plan premium or 40% of the benchmark plan rate (Anthem Blue Cross Plans I and II for medical and Cigna for dental/vision), whichever is less. See Healthcare Eligibility for more information.
  • For each year of retirement service credit beyond 10 years, the County contributes an additional 4 percent of the benchmark plan rate, up to a maximum of 100 percent for a member with 25 years or more of service credit.
  • Tier 1 members: The County subsidy applies to the member's premium amount, whether single coverage or family coverage
  • Tier 2 members: The County subsidy is based on retiree-only coverage, regardless of whether the retiree includes an eligible dependent(s). If you enroll eligible dependent(s), you will pay the difference on any monthly premium amount that exceeds the retiree-only benchmark amount.

While you may have heard that if you work for 25 years that your retiree healthcare is free, that’s not entirely accurate. The County’s subsidy is up to the benchmark rates only. If your selected group plan’s premium exceeds the benchmark rates, you will are required to pay the difference each month, even if you have 25 years of service.

Your Payment Portion

Your contribution for coverage, if any, is automatically deducted each month from your retirement allowance. The deduction prepays your coverage for the following month. If your pension benefit is insufficient to cover the amount owed, you will be billed by LACERA.

If your enrollment form is received too late for the first deduction to be made automatically, you’ll either receive a bill from LACERA, or premium deductions will be made from future retirement warrants.