Detroit retiree groups ask court to halt healthcare benefit reductions

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Jan. 9 - Four City of Detroit retiree groups filed a lawsuit against the city and emergency manager Kevyn Orr on Thursday in an effort to prevent impairment of Detroit's contractual obligation to provide healthcare benefits and coverage to the retirees, according to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The plaintiffs are the official committee of retirees of the City of Detroit, the Detroit Retired City Employees Association, the Retired Detroit Police and Fire Fighters Association and the Afscme Sub-Chapter 98, City Of Detroit Retirees.

The retiree groups said the city recently distributed its March 1, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2014 City of Detroit Retiree Healthcare Plan, "by which the city attempts to walk away from its contractual obligation to provide vested healthcare benefits to the retirees and their spouses."

The retirees said the city unilaterally decided to reduce its funding of the vested healthcare benefits by roughly 83%.

To obtain comparable healthcare benefits, the groups said many of the retirees will be forced to pay an additional several hundred dollars per month and several thousand dollars per year, which many of them cannot afford to do.

Detroit filed bankruptcy on July 18, 2013 under Chapter 9 case number 13-53846.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.