What is the Retirement Health Savings Plan?
The Vermont Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (VMERS) Retirement Health Savings (RHS) Plan is an employer-sponsored health benefit savings plan that allows you to accumulate assets to pay for medical expenses for you and your spouse in retirement VMERS elected to participate in this program so that members who were vested with five or more years of service on 7/1/2007, can take advantage of the numerous benefits, including tax-deferred accumulation of earnings and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical benefits for you and your spouse. All VMERS members and retirees who had a minimum of 5 years of contributory service in the plan on June 30, 2007 are eligible for plan participation and members can start to receive medical expense reimbursements starting at retirement.
RHS Plan Contributions and Participation
VMERS made direct employer contributions to the RHS plan for your benefit. All eligible active and retired members received a specified dollar amount that was deposited in the plan account that can be used at retirement for medical and insurance premium reimbursements. Please note that, since this is a medical benefit, plan participation is mandatory. For additional information on contributions and plan participation, please review the VMERS RHS Summary of Plan Provisions or contact the retirement office at 802-828-2305
This benefit is only accessible after members have received their first VMERS pension payment. If a member withdraws their VMERS account or passes away prior to retirement, the RHS funds are returned to the system. If a retiree passes with a RHS plan, their legal spouse may continue to use any remaining funds.
VMERS Retirement Health Savings Plan Provider - Optum
The VMERS RHS Plan is administered by Optum who subcontracts with BPAS. VMERS and Optum work closely together to ensure that you have the tools necessary to manage the funds in your RHS plan account. You can click here to log in and view your account online. For online registration or password assistance, please contact Optum at 1-877-292-4040.
VMERS and Optum understand that rising healthcare costs are a major concern, especially for retiring employees. The VMERS Optum RHS Plan can potentially assist in giving you a head start on meeting increasing medical costs and planning for long-term care for yourself and your spouse. VMERS has chosen the RHS program to assist you with these expenses and to help you fulfill your retirement goals.
