SPRINGFIELD – A retired state judge has filed suit in Sangamon County to block a new state law that will begin charging state retirees premiums for their state health insurance.
Gordon Maag, a retired appellate justice who lost a bid for the state Supreme Court in 2004, wants the law declared unconstitutional.
He also is asking that the case be declared a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all retirees affected by the law.
Maag argues that the new law “purports to diminish and impair the benefits of members of pension and retirement systems of the state of Illinois, in that [the law] abolishes free health insurance to Illinois retirees who were and are entitled to free health insurance on account of working for the state for 20 or more years of service, or, in the case of retired legislators, four years, and in the case of retired judges, six years.”
Maag’s attorney, Peter Maag of Wood River, declined to discuss the lawsuit when contacted Monday.
A staff member for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office will defend the new law in court, said hearings in the case apparently have not yet been scheduled.
Gov. Pat Quinn last month signed Senate Bill 1313, which would require retired state employees, university workers, lawmakers and judges to begin paying premiums for state health insurance.
Retired downstate teachers are covered by a separate health insurance program, for which they already pay premiums.
Retired state and university workers who worked 20 or more years before retiring were entitled to state health insurance without paying premiums, as were state lawmakers and judges after shorter periods.
Although they did not have to pay premiums, retirees did have to pay for dependent coverage as well as meet deductibles and co-payments.
The Department of Central Management Services is to set up a schedule of premium payments based on individual retirees’ ability to pay. Those receiving larger state pensions would pay more toward their health insurance than those with smaller pensions. The premium schedule is to be reviewed by a bi-partisan panel of state lawmakers.
CMS has not yet set up a premium schedule. Retiree premiums are part of the ongoing contract negotiations between the state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said the union is still considering its options regarding the health insurance bill.
Maag ran as a Democrat against Republican Lloyd Karmeier in 2004 for a seat on the state Supreme Court from the 5th Judicial District in southern Illinois. Maag lost in what was described as the most expensive judicial race in the country. Maag also lost a bid to retain his seat on the appellate court in the same election.
Maag filed a $110 million lawsuit against a coalition of business groups that he said distributed false and defamatory information about him during the campaign, but he later dropped the suit.