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District staff propose revising policy for retiree and spouse Medicare Advantage rates
Summary
Staff summarized board policy 4.6.13 for computing retiree and spouse Medicare Advantage premiums, noted Social Security sets Medicare Part B premiums (2026 standard $202.90/month) and identified thresholds ($604.83 retiree, $302.40 spouse) that determine when retirees would owe additional premium costs.
Samantha Gieras, insurance technician, summarized how board policy 4.6.13 computes retiree and spouse premiums for Medicare Advantage, explaining the district—ormula ties retiree costs to the excess of Medicare premiums over portions of active-employee premium equivalents and multipliers for years of service.
"For retiree premium calculation...the cost to the retiree is the excess of the Medicare premium over 0.667 of the total premium equivalent for an active employee," Gieras said while walking the committee through the policy math. She told the committee the standard Medicare Part B premium for 2026 is $202.90 per month, citing Social Security as the source.
Gieras gave two thresholds the district uses to determine when a retiree or spouse will see a Medicare Advantage premium on their bill: $604.83 for a retiree and $302.40 for a spouse, as presented in the slides. Staff said only one renewal option currently on the table would create a material premium obligation for retirees under the formula.
Direction: staff requested permission to propose edits to board policy and to return with two readings if the board wants changes; the committee agreed staff should come back with proposals and concrete computations in August.
