Latest News

Budget Section Boosts Hours to 1,200 Annually

April 28, 2021: Today, the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved a Mass Retirees-backed amendment to the FY22 State Budget that would increase the hours for post-retirement public sector work by 240 hours annually.

By Nicole Ogrysko @nogryskoWFED

April 5, 2021 

Occasionally, I’ll get an email or a question from a federal retiree about the Windfall Elimination Provision.

The WEP is so complex, but the questions surrounding it are usually the same. What’s the status of legislation to ditch it, or at least bring some relief to the 3% of Social Security beneficiaries who have to deal with it?

MARCH 4, 2021: Group Insurance Commission Announces Fiscal Year 2022 Plan Rates: The Group Insurance Commission held their monthly meeting to set the premium rates for FY22 ahead of the open enrollment process.  As we were anticipating from previous meetings the Commission voted on a 5.2% average increase across all plans, non-Medicare and Medicare plans. Overall, the average increase for the six Medicare plans is 2.3%.  The most popular plan, the UniCare OME plan, has an increase, 2.2%, which equates to a total $8.94 increase for FY22.

Baker: High-Volume Sites Will Speed Process

Katie Lannan -  State House News Service

February 17, 2021: 

Massachusetts will roughly double the population eligible for COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, when people over age 65, the residents and staff of affordable and low-income housing for seniors, and people with two or more health conditions that put them at higher risk will be newly able to make appointments.

January 26, 2021: Last Friday, Shawn Duhamel reported on a request we made last week to the state of Massachusetts to prioritize the vaccination of all adults age 65+. I am happy to report that Governor Charlie Baker has heeded this request and that the vast majority of our members will soon be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

December 14, 2020: Governor Baker has signed the FY21 State Budget into law. This ends the 6-month delay of a final FY21 budget and funds the Commonwealth’s operations through June 30, 2021.  

$46 Billion Budget Contains State/Teachers’ COLA

NOVEMBER 23, 2020: House and Senate leaders have begun negotiations over the FY21 budgets passed by each branch of the Legislature over the past two weeks. Since the House and Senate passed differing versions of the $46 billion spending plan, a compromise final version has to be negotiated in conference committee before receiving final approval and sent to Governor Charlie Baker for his approval.

November 6, 2020: Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the 2021 monthly Medicare Parts A and B premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts in which the Medicare Part B monthly premium remains steady.

Congress Caps 2021 Medicare Part B Premium

October 15, 2020: As just announced by the Social Security Administration (SSA) this week, the benefits, payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries, will be increased by a 1.3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). This COLA increase will begin on December 31, 2020.

3% State / Teacher COLA Remains Delayed With FY21 Budget

October 7, 2020: State officials held a special Economic Roundtable meeting today focused on the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the Massachusetts economy and tax revenues.

Ranked Choice Voting = Confusingly Bad Idea 

OCTOBER 2, 2020: As increased partisanship has led to further polarization and voter apathy, it is natural for people to seek ways to improve our system of democracy and find new ways to encourage election participation. While we believe that Question 2, so-called Ranked Choice Voting, is well intentioned, the change to our voting process that a Yes vote would bring about is both highly confusing and truly a bad idea.