Wayne County: Retiree Health Care Liability Down 64 Percent
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - An effort to cut health care costs for Wayne County retirees is paying off.
Officials say efforts to stabilize Wayne County's finances and eliminate deficits have reduced its total retiree health care liability by about 64 percent, nearly $1 billion.
The office of Wayne County Executive Warren Evans says in a statement Tuesday that health care liability dropped to $471 million in 2015 from $1.3 billion in 2014.
Officials had expected liabilities to rise in 2015 to $1.8 billion, but the county moved some retirees to different health plans and gave others stipends to buy their own insurance.
Evans says the county now is able to devote more resources to services for residents.
In December, the county announced that projections showed it had wiped out an accumulated deficit of more than $82 million.
Gov. Rick Snyder confirmed last summer that a financial emergency existed in the county. The county entered into a consent agreement with the state to fix its finances.
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