"Reducing health care premiums for our retired educators will make a tangible difference in their lives and I look forward to celebrating this victory with them."
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, sent a letter to TRS Board Chairman Jarvis Hollingsworth urging the TRS Board to lower insurance premiums for Medicare-eligible participants in TRS-Care Medicare Advantage and implement a one-time re-enrollment opportunity due to those premium decreases for retired educators who may have left the program. Upon sending the letter, Lt. Gov. Patrick issued the following statement:
“Other than a parent, no person is more important in the development of a child than an educator. The Texas Senate has repeatedly stood with our retired educators because we know they have given so much for the future of our state. In 2023, I spearheaded the allocation of $5 billion for cost-of-living adjustments for retired educators and $7,500 supplemental payments for retired educators aged 75 and over.
“TRS’ leadership has done a great job managing the pension fund and I thank them for their efforts. Now, TRS leadership has the opportunity to make another good decision and decrease insurance premiums for Medicare-eligible participants in TRS-Care Medicare Advantage. Sen. Huffman and I have written a letter to TRS leadership to recommend they lower insurance premiums for these participants without sacrificing the long-term stability of the TRS-Care fund balance. If the board can reduce premiums sustainably, Sen. Huffman and I also advocate implementing a one-time re-enrollment opportunity for retired educators who left TRS-Care.
“My wife, Jan, is a retired educator, and I have seen up close the sacrifices that educators make on behalf of their students. Reducing health care premiums for our retired educators will make a tangible difference in their lives and I look forward to celebrating this victory with them. I am proud to stand with our retired educators and will continue to do so.”
Upon sending the letter, Sen. Huffman issued the following statement:
“In 2023, Lt. Gov. Patrick and I worked with all senators to inject billions of additional dollars into TRS to provide a substantial stipend to eligible retirees and a much-deserved cost-of-living adjustment. Now, there is an opportunity to provide further benefits for our Medicare-eligible population within the TRS-Care program. I want to thank the Lt. Governor for working with me over the years to support our retired educators and I look forward to our continued work moving forward.”
To read the letter from Lt. Gov. Patrick and Sen. Huffman, click here.
