Lifetime Benefits for Part-time Public Servants: Legislators Should Give Up Benefits

A Democratic state senator from Missouri is doing his part to balance the state budget by giving up his state-funded health insurance. Senator Victor Calahan said: "I'm doing this today because I don't want to be a hypocrite. I intend to join the other 74,000 Missourians without health care."

Here in Tennessee, legislators receive tax-payer funded health insurance for life. To date, our legislators have not volunteered to give up their lifetime benefits.

There is still time for them to come forward and do the right thing.

The Democratic Governor plans to balance the budget by cutting 323,000 sick, elderly, disabled and otherwise medically needy citizens from the state's health care plan. As if that wasn't bad enough, another few hundred thousand will have their benefits severely curtailed.

State lawmakers have little, if anything, to worry about with their own health insurance as they talk about cutting benefits for those on TennCare.

Most take advantage of the state employee health insurance plan that has them paying 20% of the premium and taxpayers paying the other 80%.

But there's an extra twist for lawmakers: They can walk away from their positions at any time without losing health benefits for either themselves or their family. They have the insurance for life.

Republican Sen. David Fowler probably won't be the first to come forward. Sen. Fowler said the health care benefits of legislators and ordinary Tennesseans should not be compared.

The Republican opined, ''It is fundamentally a different situation because we are working and this is part of our compensation." Sen. Fowler said he did not know the health insurance benefits for his part-time job were for a lifetime.

More than 9,600 Walmart employees in the state are on TennCare. If Walmart cannot afford to provide health insurance to employees, it should be obvious to one and all that the state of Tennessee certainly cannot.

Legislators should do the right thing. If the state is too poor to provide health care for its most vulnerable citizens, it is too poor to award lifetime benefits to part-time public servants.