Opinion: Retiree health care could cost Calif. $6.6B a year
By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee
California is spending more than $2 billion a year on health care for retired state employees – up more than 80 percent in the last decade, according to Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget.
Dan Walters
However, the state would have to spend over three times as much – $6.6 billion a year – to fully cover current health care costs and whittle down its $80.3 billion unfunded liability for future health care obligations, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts.
California isn’t alone in facing a big retiree health care tab. California’s $80.3 billion liability may be the nation’s largest, but it’s just 12.8 percent of the $627 billion total for all states. Until recently, however, it was one of just 18 states that have set aside nothing to cover those future obligations.
