Proposed balanced budget slashes insurance for V.I. government retirees
ST. THOMAS — Major changes to the territory’s retirement health benefits may have been offered before being fully analyzed, according to testimony at Tuesday’s budget hearing.
The changes — which would move government retirees’ share of insurance costs from a 60-40 split between the government and retirees to a 50-50 split, and remove coverage for retirees over age 65 — could save the government almost $22 million in the coming fiscal year, officials have said.
Gov. Kenneth Mapp has said he intends to use some portion of those savings to pay into the Government Employees’ Retirement System.
The insurance is nominally funded through the Personnel Division, though it falls under the roughly $85 million miscellaneous budget heading. Miscellaneous is the second-largest general fund appropriation area, after the $156.3 million sought for the V.I. Education Department.
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