The Voice of the Retired Public Employee
Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts
Founded in 1968, now in its 57th year of serving retired Massachusetts public employees of the 104 public retirement systems within the Commonwealth, the Mass Retirees Association is widely recognized as one of the strongest independent advocacy groups on Beacon Hill. From public pensions and health insurance, to federal issues such as the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision, Government Pension Offset and Medicare the Association leads the fight exclusively for all Massachusetts retired public employees. We are The Voice of the Retired Public Employee.
Breaking News
July 6, 2026
Recent Primary Election Losses Signal Potential Health Committee Leadership Changes
July 6, 2026: The most recent news from the Public Sector Healthcare Roundtable A series of congressional primary defeats has begun reshaping the outlook for committee leadership in the next Congress, with several incumbent lawmakers losing renomination bids ahead of ...Read More - Recent Primary Election Losses Signal Potential Health Committee Leadership Changes
July 1, 2026
Legislature passes COLA Reform & Earnings Increase
This evening, the House and Senate approved both our COLA Reform initiative and an increase in the post-retirement earnings limit! Both provisions are contained within the outside sections of the FY27 State Budget, which was released from conference committee ...Read More - Legislature passes COLA Reform & Earnings Increase
June 21, 2026
Latest Federal News from the Roundtable
Public Sector Healthcare Roundtable: June 21, 2026: Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Advances Bills to Improve Health Care Access and Affordability On June 17, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced eight bipartisan health care ...Read More - Latest Federal News from the Roundtable
June 16, 2026
Update: Local COLA Base Increases – Eleven More Systems
Since our last report in the April Voice, we have eleven more local retirement systems that have increased their COLA Base. It’s noteworthy that for all of them it wasn’t their first time doing so. Chaired by retired ...Read More - Update: Local COLA Base Increases – Eleven More Systems
June 16, 2026
PAC Fundraiser: Another Success
Thank You To Those Who Donated During this spring fundraising drive, members demonstrated their generosity to the request for donations by the Association’s political committee, the Retired Public Employees PAC. “Thanks to those members who voluntarily donated to the ...Read More - PAC Fundraiser: Another Success
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Latest News From Mass Retirees
Returns elevate state pension fund balance to nearly $130 billion
August 10, 2026Colin A. Young, State House News Service For the fourth time in a row, the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management's main investment fund ended last fiscal year at another record level, swelling to $129.5 billion. Michael Trotsky, PRIM ...Read More - Returns elevate state pension fund balance to nearly $130 billion
Healey targets premiums, drug prices in health affordability push
August 3, 2026Alison Kuznitz, State House News Service STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Aug. 3, 2026.....Gov. Maura Healey unveiled long-promised healthcare affordability recommendations Monday to expand MassHealth's investment in primary care, slash premiums, rein in out-of-network costs, mitigate "low ...Read More - Healey targets premiums, drug prices in health affordability push
Regulators approve steep health insurance premium increases
July 22, 2026Alison Kuznitz, State House News Service STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, July 22, 2026….Nearly 700,000 Bay Staters will still see double-digit premium increases next year, even after state insurance regulators managed to trim down rates across seven carriers and ...Read More - Regulators approve steep health insurance premium increases
COLA Update: Local Boards Continuing to Increase Their Cola Base
July 14, 2026Annually we list the COLA bases for the 102 local retirement systems. Since local boards can approve a COLA up to July 1, we routinely wait to publish the COLA base list in the October issue of The Voice. But ...Read More - COLA Update: Local Boards Continuing to Increase Their Cola Base
Retirees & Unions Rally to Defeat Cost Shifting
July 14, 2026GIC Premiums Increase 7.5% on Average In late February, public retirees and employees achieved a major victory when it comes to the benefits and cost of your health insurance plans. All the Fiscal Year 27 cost shifting proposals under ...Read More - Retirees & Unions Rally to Defeat Cost Shifting