Hempfield to pay for lifetime health insurance [Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.]

July 07--Hempfield taxpayers will pay for health insurance for 11 former officials and employees for the rest of their lives because of a state Supreme Court ruling.

The decision stems from a December ruling in the case of White Deer Township in Union County, which sued former supervisors and their spouses to prevent them from receiving health care benefits after they left office.

Commonwealth Court last year overturned a lower court's decision. The case was appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled that the township supervisors had the authority to grant medical benefits to the ex-officials and their spouses after they retired.

In 2004, a dozen former officials and employees from Hempfield filed suit in Westmoreland County over the same issue. The case has remained dormant while the White Deer case was being appealed.

Former supervisors John Skiavo, Bill Reese, Paul Reed, Jed Yurt, Gerald Answine, Robert Wile and Earl Lohr, the husband of the late Virginia Lohr, filed the action along with former employees Cheryl Kemerer, Dennis Bolitho, Patricia Skiavo and Wendy Wian. Also named as a plaintiff was Olive Tierno, whose late husband worked for Hempfield.

Manager Kurt Ferguson said he expects all the former officials and employees will apply for coverage. He said they could be added to the township's health insurance policy as early as this year.

Under the terms of a prior union contract, employees became vested in the pension plan after five years and could receive health care for themselves and their spouses for the rest of their lives with "costs being paid wholly by the township," according to the suit.

Hempfield sued to stop paying for health care, arguing that the payments "are an improper expenditure of public funds" and were never approved by a previous board of supervisors or township auditors.

The former supervisors at the time were employed as roadmasters or as secretary-treasurer of the board of supervisors. The others were at-will employees.

Though the supervisors were elected to office, they took on paid jobs as township roadmasters or secretary-treasurer and received the same benefits as employees who were members of the Teamsters Union and covered by the contract.

Reese served as a supervisor-roadmaster from 1996 to 2001; Skiavo was secretary-treasurer from 1976 until 1986. Yurt served as a supervisor from 1989 to 2002; Reed, 1998-2003; Wile, 1978-1995; and Answine, 1988-1997.

John Silvis, chairman of the board, was an auditor at the time the policy was established. He said the supervisors who were employed by the township received the same benefits as union members.

"This case has been tested, re-tested and re-tested again," Silvis said. "Unfortunately, it went against us."

Supervisor Bob Davidson said he is "not happy about it. ... I pay for my own health insurance, and it's available for me through the township.

"Being a supervisor is a public service," he added. "It's not an opportunity to gain personal benefit."

Ferguson said it's unlikely the supervisors will appeal.

"At this point, we have accepted that decision," he said. "We will add (the employees) at the appropriate time."

Ferguson said he does not yet know what the decision will cost the township but said a tax increase is unlikely. He prepares budget projections five years in advance and said the township should be able to absorb the added costs. He said premiums vary from $500 a month to $1,800 a month.

Ferguson said it is difficult to assess the financial impact of the added coverage since premiums will depend on the age of the employee and spouse, the type of coverage they apply for and lifespans.

"From my five-year budget targets, even with increases (in health care), I don't anticipate a tax increase is needed," Ferguson said.

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