by Gary Johnson, Chair of the VCCCDRA Benefits Committee:
WHO ARE THE VCCCD RETIREES?
- Retirees have held every position description on all three campuses and the District office.
- Living retirees have contributed 14,000 years of service to the District and are responsible for what it has evolved to become.
- Currently there are 724 living retirees and 326 deceased retirees.
- Approximately 600 living retirees have earned District retirement benefits, 500 in Tier I and 100 in Tier II.
- 455 retirees were included in the 2010 Settlement; 340 are still living, 115 are deceased.
- Approximately 100 Tier I retirees are not eligible for Medicare; 210 have Medicare Part A only.
- We can estimate the ages of 310 of the 500 Tier I retirees and assume the remainder mirror a similar profile:
* Oldest retiree is 101 (living outside the U.S.)
* 38 are 91 or older
* 70 are between 86 and 90
* 60 are between 81 and 83
* 143 are between 76 and 80
- A good many of the most aged retirees live in fragile economic, physical, and mental circumstances; living alone or in assisted living or family caretaker situation.
- Given the often frustrating nature of interaction with bureaucracy, many retirees are no longer adept or capable of negotiating their way through the complexity of technological communication or the labyrinth of bureaucratic layers they will have to successfully move through to get their health insurers to serve their health care needs. (District, Burnham, CalPERS, Medicare, Anthem, UltrumRx, BriovaRx).
- Older people the age of many retirees are not good at digesting and adjusting to change, and change in the vital area of health care the District has in mind is threatening and deeply disturbing.
