State Farm retirees losing some medical coverage

Associated Press

Updated: Feb 16, 2013 1:30 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) — State Farm Insurance Co. is again trying to move thousands of Medicare-eligible retirees off the company's group medical plan as a cost-cutting measure.

A first attempt in 2011 ran into technical problems, and the company says those issues have been resolved.

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports (http://bit.ly/VmZTx9 ) that about 15,000 retirees who were allowed to temporarily remain on the company's plan will now have to find alternative coverage by June 1.

The Bloomington-based company says assistance in finding new coverage is available from Aon Hewitt Navigators. State Farm will also pay $200 per person per month toward the cost of supplemental coverage.

State Farm spokesman Jeff McCollum says the company regretted that its first attempt to make the coverage switch caused "inconvenience and confusion" for some of its retirees.

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Information from: The Pantagraph, http://www.pantagraph.com

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