Supreme Court Rules Against Retiree Health Care Charges

(Chicago, IL) -- In a decision that has implications for the state's pension reform law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that the state cannot start charging retirees for health care benefits they had been getting for free. The court ruled that requiring such payments violates the Illinois Constitution's provision that pension benefits "shall not be diminished or impaired." That same argument is being made against the pension reform law, which reduces the cost-of-living adjustments to pension benefits and raises the retirement age.