rate of 20 percent per year. Upon separation or retirement, participants may use vested RMA funds for reimbursement of qualified medical expenses.
Disclosures for the health care plan are presented separately in the OPERS financial report. Interested parties may obtain a copy by visiting https://www.opers.org/financial/reports.shtml, by writing to OPERS, 277 East Town Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215‐4642, or by calling (614) 222‐5601 or 800‐222‐7377.
Funding Policy
The Ohio Revised Code provides the statutory authority allowing public employers to fund postemployment health care through their contributions to OPERS. When funding is approved by OPERS Board of Trustees, a portion of each employer’s contribution to OPERS is set aside to fund OPERS health care plans. Beginning in 2018, OPERS no longer allocated a portion of its employer contributions to health care for the traditional plan.
Employer contribution rates are expressed as a percentage of the earnable salary of active members. For fiscal year 2024, state and local employers contributed at a rate of 14.0 percent of earnable salary. These are the maximum employer contribution rates permitted by the Ohio Revised Code. Active member contributions do not fund health care.
Each year, the OPERS Board determines the portion of the employer contribution rate that will be set aside to fund health care plans. For 2024, OPERS did not allocate any employer contribution to health care for members in the Traditional Pension Plan. Beginning July 1, 2022, there was a two percent allocation to health care for the Combined Plan which has continued through 2024. The OPERS Board is also authorized to establish rules for the retiree or their surviving beneficiaries to pay a portion of the health care provided. Payment amounts vary depending on the number of covered dependents and the coverage selected. The employer contribution as a percentage of covered payroll deposited into the RMA for participants in the member‐directed plan for 2024 was 4.0 percent. Effective July 1, 2022, a portion of the health care rate was funded with reserves which has continued through 2024.
Employer contribution rates are actuarially determined and are expressed as a percentage of covered payroll. The City’s contractually required contribution was $0 for 2024.
Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F)
Plan Description
The City contributes to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) sponsored healthcare program, a cost‐sharing, multiple‐employer defined post‐employment health care plan administered by a third‐party provider. This program is not guaranteed and is subject to change at any time upon action of the Board of Trustees. On January 1, 2019, OP&F implemented a new model for health care. Under this new model, OP&F provides eligible retirees with a fixed stipend earmarked to pay for health care and Medicare Part B reimbursements.
OP&F contracted with a vendor who assists eligible retirees in choosing health care plans that are available where they live (both Medicare‐eligible and pre‐65 populations). A stipend funded by OP&F is available to these members through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement and can be used to reimburse retirees for qualified health care expenses.
Regardless of a benefit recipient’s participation in the health care program, OP&F is required by law to pay eligible recipients of a service pension, disability benefit and spousal survivor benefit for their Medicare Part B insurance premium, up to the statutory maximum provided the benefit recipient is not