Nearly eight thousand retired first responders have filed a class-action lawsuit against the board of the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund over recent changes to their health care.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to maintain the benefits retirees are set to lose shortly when new policies are put in place. They are instead being offered a stipend to purchase insurance or being encourgaged to enroll in Medicare. The plaintiffs say the plan is inferior, limited, and more complicated than the current offerings. Fund director John Gallagher blames the changes on the need for the fund to remain solvent, and on partisan bickering in Washington over the Affordable Care Act.
