Lockport to pay health claims of CSEA retirees

June 11--LOCKPORT -- The Common Council voted Wednesday to pay retirees from the city's white-collar union nearly $90,000 to settle a lawsuit over Medicare Part B reimbursements.

However, the city refused to admit that it had violated the Civil Service Employees Association contract.

"It's a resolution. It resolves everything," Deputy Corporation Counsel David E. Blackley said.

The city was sued by 25 retired members of the CSEA in December over its refusal to implement a state arbitrator's award in the union's favor. Arbitrator Robert J. Rabin declared in January 2014 that the city had broken the contract by refusing to pay the Part B reimbursements, something that the city had agreed to do in 2010. Rabin said the money should be paid, but the city didn't pay it.

The city attempted to claim that the benefit was due only to CSEA members who retired after Oct. 27, 2010. The union contended that eligibility began Jan. 1, 2003, the effective date of the most recent CSEA contract in force at the time of the 2010 agreement on health benefits.

Part B is the medical insurance portion of Medicare. Part A is hospitalization insurance and Part D covers prescription drugs.

Mayor Anne E. McCaffrey said the city will settle the case by making two payments of $44,960 each, one next month and the second in March.

McCaffrey said that the payment wasn't in this year's city budget but that the city expected to have enough savings from a recent "health care dependant eligibility survey" to make the July payment.

Earlier this year, the city directed all union members to return forms listing their dependents eligible for health insurance, which seems to have resulted in some deletions of those previously covered.

The settlement envisions that the city will pay the Part B reimbursements for as long as the retirees live, but that doesn't apply to their surviving spouses,

The city must reimburse any increases the federal government might make in Part B premiums in the future, as well.

The breakdown of the settlement includes payments of $62,080 to the former city workers and $27,840 to their spouses, for a total of $89,920. The largest amount owed to any individual retiree is $5,120.

In April, the city agreed to settle a similar lawsuit filed a year ago by 71 retired police officers and firefighters, who contended that the city had violated their union contracts, which promised city-paid health insurance for life at the same benefit levels they had when they were working.

The Council has yet to vote on that settlement agreement.

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