Horry County could restore health benefits to some retired employees

Horry County Council could vote in the coming weeks to restore healthcare benefits to certain county employees who are forced to retire because they were injured on the job.

The county stopped providing those benefits in 2012 as it was seeking to save money in the next budget. In that move, the county said it would no longer pay for employees’ healthcare in between their retirement and the time they qualify for Medicare. Other government jobs, including the U.S. military, provide those benefits.

The resolution heading to council is sponsored by Councilman Cam Crawford from the Socastee area.

Only about 20 people would currently qualify for the new program. But Crawford said he views the bill as a small step towards eventually restoring those benefits for more retirees.

“My correction is very small in scope but I don’t know where else to start,” he said in an interview. “I have to chip away at the iceberg little by little.”

The program would work like this:

A Horry County employee who is injured on the job would qualify if he or she no longer can do the job they were hired to do because of the injury; there aren’t similar paying county jobs available that the employee can do; and the employee is forced to retire as a result of the injury. The employee will qualify to have the county continue to pay 100% of their health benefits until they’re eligible for Medicare. People who have a qualifying disability can begin receiving Medicare benefits at age 62, while the general enrollment age is 65.

An employee would no longer qualify for the extended health benefits if they are able to work again, or if they are no longer disabled.

Barry Spivey, one of the county’s assistant administrators, said the benefit change would cost the county about $120,000 per year, though the cost would fluctuate depending on the number of employees who qualify.

At a meeting of County Council’s Administration Committee on Tuesday, several council members said they thought the program was worthwhile and that county employees deserved the benefit.

According to 2018 county payroll data, a majority of county employees earn low salaries — less than $38,000 per year. Typically, people who work for a government entity earn less than workers in the public sector, but benefits like pensions and good healthcare plans can compensate for for the lower pay.

Horry County employees qualify for a pension through the state’s retirement system, but in 2012, County Council voted to roll back health benefits for retirees as a cost-saving measure. From 1994 to 2012, Horry County paid for its employees’ health benefits from retirement until they were eligible for Medicare, up to $4,800 per employee per year for health insurance premiums. Once a retired employee is eligible for Medicare, the county continues to pay for supplemental insurance, a much lower annual cost.

Employees who were 62 years old, or who had 23 years of work history with the county prior to Dec. 31, 2012 were still eligible for continuted post-retirement benefits under the roll back plan

But council members who were worried about burgeoning costs of paying that benefit voted to eliminate it. Tom Rice, then chairman of County Council before he successfully won a seat in Congress, said paying the benefit would eventually affect the county’s “real cash flow dollars,” according to minutes from the June 19, 2012 meeting. After some discussion about how the county would need to pay tens of millions each year if it kept paying the benefit, the council voted unanimously to do away with it.

Under the new legislation, an employee has to work for the county for seven years or more and retire due to an injury at work that was “no fault of their own.” The benefit would then be in place until Medicare coverage takes effect.

Of the 20 people who were forced to retire due to an on-the-job injury in the past decade, Spivey said, they retired at age 50, on average. That would mean the county could expect to pay those benefits for 12 to 15 years on average.

Council Member Orton Bellamy, who represents part of the Conway area, said at Tuesday’s meeting that he supports the plan because he has received similar benefits from the U.S. military. Bellamy, an Army veteran, explained that while he was serving, he was in a helicopter accident and damaged his head and spine. Because of his injury, he said, the military continued to pay for the bulk of his health benefits until he qualified for Medicare earlier this year.

“Really what you’re talking about is a line-of-duty injury, because you’re there in the workplace as a police officer or an EMT, or the fire department or staff, you perform your job ... and through no fault of your own, you have to be medically released from the county,” he said. “The county has an obligation to support that employee.”

Crawford emphasized that he tried to design the program to be as fair as possible.

“As the county, I believe our employees are our most valuable asset, I think this is a way that we can help them in a time of need,” he said.

This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 11:16 AM.