Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Highway Patrol Pension topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System says COLA remains biggest challenge; health reimbursement arrangement eased health fund solvency
Summary
Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System Executive Director Carl Rourke told the House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee HPRS has roughly $1.1 billion in assets, about 1,400 active members and 1,600 retirees, and that COLA remains the system’s greatest ongoing liability.
Carl Rourke, executive director of the Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS), briefed the House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee on HPRS’ scale, funding policy and benefits, saying the system faces a shrinking active membership and a growing retiree population and that cost‑of‑living adjustments (COLAs) remain its most significant recurring liability.
Rourke told the committee HPRS was created in 1941, serves a single employer (the Ohio State Highway Patrol) and holds roughly $1.1 billion in assets. He said membership figures include about 1,400 active members and nearly 1,600 retirees, including roughly 162 disability retirees and about 300 surviving spouses or dependents.
The nut graf: HPRS has a funding policy that tests for negative amortization and stress‑tests market volatility to determine whether a COLA is affordable; that approach reduced the amortization period to below 20 years, Rourke said, but it has meant COLA was paid in only two of the last six years.
Rourke described the board’s discretion on contribution rates and COLA and emphasized the policy’s role in decisions on active contribution rates and allocations to a health care fund. He said the board appointed a special committee on COLA last year to examine options. On health coverage, HPRS moved from a self‑insured plan to a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), which Rourke said improved benefits and solved a solvency issue for the health trust; the last transfer to the health fund was in 2022 and there is no plan to reallocate funds in the near term.
Members asked about Medicare and retiree coverage gaps. Representative Miller noted the typical retiree reaches Medicare at 65 while HPRS members can retire as early as 48; Rourke said bridging the pre‑Medicare years is a “extreme challenge” and emphasized the HRA’s role in giving retirees an allowance that can be used to bridge gaps or build toward marketplace coverage.
Rourke said COLA decisions are guided annually by actuarial valuation and HPRS awarded 3% COLAs in 2022 and 2023 but did not award COLAs in 2024 and 2025. He closed by offering to answer follow‑up questions and by crediting the funding policy for recent improvements to amortization.
