Het verhaal
Henderson officials say the city’s Retiree Health Insurance Premium Assistance program is financially unsustainable and want to replace it with individual Retirement Health Savings accounts. Public hearings on amendments to agreements with the Henderson Police Officers Association, the Henderson Police Supervisors Association and Henderson Professional Firefighters Local 1883 are scheduled for Tuesday’s City Council meeting. A spokesperson told the Review-Journal a vote on the Joint Benefits Agreements could follow the presentations.
If the amendments are ratified, the city would start moving those union members and non-represented employees off RHIPA. The 2014 program pays retirees on the city’s self-insured health plan a monthly subsidy of $200 to $400 depending on years of service. Workers first paid $15 to $20 per paycheck; that rose to $24.20 after 2019 and 2023 amendments, with 10 percent increases every five years starting in 2029. The city also puts in a yearly lump sum of $330,000, set to rise 10 percent in 2034. Unlike RHS accounts, RHIPA is a shared fund, not individual balances.
City documents warn that retiree numbers and health costs could force Henderson to spend $5 million to $7.5 million a year to keep RHIPA solvent. Lt. Charles Hedrick, president of the supervisors union, said outside experts agreed with the city’s projections and that more than 80 percent of his members supported changing the deal. Former Fire Capt. William Rotroff, who retired in April 2025 after 29 years, said he was told about two weeks ago and called the lack of earlier notice to retirees disheartening. He plans to speak Tuesday.
A June 16 letter to the unions said employees would get a lump sum based on tenure, reduced by any RHIPA benefit already paid: 100 percent of their contribution after 25 years, 80 percent after 20 to 25, 65 percent after 15 to 20, and 30 percent after 10 to 15. Current RHIPA recipients would have a three-month grace period for final subsidy payments. The city held online information sessions Monday evening and Tuesday morning.