Your 2025 Mass Retirees membership renewal is now due. The fastest and most secure way to renew is by using the form contained on this page. Your annual membership dues remain at just $42.

If you would prefer to renew by check, please make it payable to RSCMEA, 11 Beacon Street, Suite 309, Boston, MA 02108. Please include your membership ID on the check. Your membership ID can be found on your Mass Retirees membership card, within the dues renewal email, or on the remittance slip contained with your renewal notice.

Many members generously choose to include an additional donation along with their membership renewal. These additional funds help keep our Annual dues as low as possible, so that membership remains affordable for all retirees. To include a donation, please use the “Custom Amount” feature within the online form.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for being a member of Mass Retirees. While the passing of our cofounder and former Association President Ralph White earlier this year has saddened all of us, it has also provided an opportunity to reflect on our underlying mission – to ensure that public retirees are never forgotten.

The success we have had in 2024 is proof that public retirees are not forgotten! Here’s a quick recap of the victories achieved this year that directly benefit retirees:

  • No Health Insurance Cost Shifting: For the 7th consecutive year, the Group Insurance Commission held the line on cost shifting – with no increases in copayments or deductibles. This positive action is not only good news for State Retirees, but also sends a strong message to municipal governments that is it not OK to unfairly raise municipal insurance costs. And we must remember, actions taken by the state’s GIC can very quickly become local policy. While we’re concerned about the future, to date most municipal governments have avoided unfair cost shifting.
  • Special COLA Commission: Not only does the retired State Employees and Teachers’ COLA base need to be raised, but a new approach is also needed to help all long-term public retirees keep pace with inflation. At the same time, a new approach to funding COLA increases must be developed that will not only help State and Teacher Retirees, but also help increase local COLA benefits as well. The Special COLA Commission, on which Mass Retirees has a seat, is tasked with tackling these issues and providing recommendations to the legislature by 2/1/2025.
  • $10,000 Basic Life Insurance: After years of advocating for an increase in the state’s Basic Life Insurance benefit, the legislature approved a $5,000 increase to the benefit within the FY25 budget. Approved by the governor, the benefit will be set at $10,000 as of July 1, 2025 – the first increase since 1985. Since benefit levels are a local option, we are now working with retired teachers and municipal retirees to increase local life insurance benefits.
  • Post Retirement Public Sector Work Task Force: Following a controversial report by the state Inspector General alleging abuse, the legislature has formed a Post Retirement Public Sector Work Task Force to examine the laws, regulations, and oversight of public retirees holding public sector jobs. Our Association also has a seat on the Task Force, which is important given the growing number of members working in a public sector job. We will use this opportunity to advocate for improvements to the rules governing post-retirement work, making the system easier to navigate and fairer. We also believe that both the hour and earnings limits will likely be reviewed.
  • Change in Accidental Disability Law: The FY25 budget also contains language amending the return-to-work law for accidently disability retirees, who are seeking to return to active public sector employment in a position other than that from which they retired. While previously prohibited, the new law allows retirees, at their request, to petition for reexamination for return to work in another position or within a different department. This new process will grant accidental disability retirees options for employment that did not previously exist.

It is also important to point out that we have some deep concerns about the road ahead, especially when it comes to defending retiree health insurance benefits. As both state and local budgets tighten, there will undoubtedly be calls for belt tightening under the guise of “affordability”. Using the past as a guide, we know that this can lead to cuts to health insurance plans that specifically harm public retirees. A major part of the work done by Mass Retirees focuses on the retiree healthcare.

And while the COLA Commission will undoubtedly lead to recommendations for improved benefits for all Massachusetts public retirees, we must then see those improvements passed into law. Based on past experience, we already know this will be a fight with some special interest groups opposing new COLA benefits. However, we are ready to fight this battle and win!

Finally, many members (myself included) are directly harmed by the Social Security WEP and GPO laws. Some 41 years after the laws’ creation by Congress, the national debate over the unfairness of WEP/GPO continues.

The good news is that, for the first time ever, we have achieved a super majority of support in both the House and US Senate to end both the WEP and GPO laws. A push is now underway to force a vote in the House in mid-November. We will continue to do everything possible to represent your interests and bring an end to these two very unfair federal laws.

While advocating at the federal level is a daunting task, our work here in Massachusetts at both the local and state levels of government is more fruitful. Our success depends on a strong membership, which is why I hope you will renew your membership for 2025. Doing so promptly helps us to better plan for the year ahead.

Thank you for being a member and for placing your trust in Mass Retirees to represent you as a retired public employee.

Please renew your membership today, either online or by check.

With gratitude,

Frank Valeri

President

Mass Retirees Association