The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that subsidized health care premiums for retired state employees are protected under the Illinois Constitution, signaling potential trouble for an overhaul of pension benefits that's also being challenged in court.
The 6-1 decision centers around a 2012 law that allowed the state to charge retired workers for health care insurance premiums, which many did not have to pay depending on how long they worked for the state.
Retired workers sued, arguing the changes violated a provision in the state constitution that declares pension benefits 'shall not be diminished or impaired.' Attorneys for the state argued the constitution did not specifically declare health care benefits were protected.
In Thursday's ruling, the justices argued 'there is nothing in the text of the Constitution that warrants such a limitation.'
'We conclude that the state's provision of health insurance premium subsidies for retirees is a benefit of membership in a pension or retirement system within the meaning (of the Constitution) and therefore the General Assembly was precluded from diminishing or impairing that benefit,' justices wrote in their opinion.
Justice Anne Burke dissented. The action reverses a ruling by a Sangamon County Circuit Court judge and returns the case to the lower court for further action.
The same provision is at the heart of several lawsuits challenging broader pension changes lawmakers passed in December. That measure reduces costs-of-living increases and raises retirement ages, among other changes.
mcgarcia@tribune.com
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