There are only 47 employees remaining in the non-uniform defined pension plan. All of the members of the Fire Department are included in their defined pension plan. When I asked the commission to allow six members of the non-uniform plan to retire without penalty at any age, the proposal was not considered. However, if these employees had been firefighters, they could have retired after 20 years of service at any age with no penalty, and the city would have paid their health insurance until they reached 65. When Noland and Trinchitella championed this change in the fire pension plan, the rationale was that after 20 years, a firefighter is burned out. REALLY? Why then is the union pushing to extend its DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) from 5 to 7 years? A former fire chief retired with an annual pension of $97,000 plus $235,000 from the DROP plan and $56,000 in unused vacation and sick time. More recently a retiree at age 51 will cost the city $372.35 for his health coverage for the next 14 years until age 65 for a total cost to the city of $53,618.40. In these times of economic stress, it is important to ask for the unions to give back. There is no DROP plan for non-uniform employees. And why aren’t those firefighters or chiefs who want to continue past their retirement not also burned out?
Then there is the matter of incentive pay for those who are EMS [Emergency Medical Services] certified. That is given to members of the department who have the certification but never go out on a call.
All over the country, unions are being asked to give back or modify benefits that taxpayers can no longer afford. If the commission is saying “NO” to non-uniform workers retiring after 30 or more years of service at any age without penalty, let’s see what they do with the firefighters’ 20-and-out with no penalty. The times they are a changing.
Jean M. Robb
Deerfield Beach
Editor’s note: A DROP plan is an arrangement under which an employee who would otherwise be entitled to retire instead continues working. The monthly pension money he would have received goes into the DROP plan administered by the Firemen’s Pension Board. The account earns interest at a rate stated in the plan or based on the earnings of the trust managed by the Board. The employee continues to receive his salary for the time he works plus whatever salary increases were given during that time.
Counterpoint: Healthcare
Dear Editor:
Whether or not one supports healthcare for all Americans, we need to acknowledge some important facts.
Yes, wealthy people come to America for our fine healthcare. But, that healthcare is not available to the average American. Many Americans go to foreign countries for necessary treatment because they have no insurance or their co-pay would be more than it costs to fly to another country, stay in a hotel and pay for the surgery.
Many Americans order their drugs from Canadian pharmacies because they are considerably cheaper and often there are generic alternatives that are not sold in the U.S.
For a variety of reasons, more than 45 million legal American citizens have no health insurance. These people sometimes die on the street, at home and even waiting in emergency rooms. Uninsured emergency room treatment is passed on to the insured, thus raising costs to the insured and ultimately our insurance rates while insurance executives draw salaries in the 10’s of millions.
After three years of being able to afford only catastrophic health insurance, I have the Best insurance I can afford— and I am consistently denied the best drugs, treatments, and even reimbursement for routine doctor visits and tests.
I am not advocating for free care for everyone, but I believe a civilized society takes care of its most vulnerable — the young, the elderly, the poor and the mentally and physically ill. At this time, we Americans are not meeting that responsibility. We must offer an affordable alternative and to do that, we must get out of the grips of the drug and insurance companies whose only motive is profit.
