The Healthcare Enhancement for Local
Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees Act
The FOP scored a major
legislative victory last night when
the Senate passed H.R. 4, the
"Pension Protection Act of 2006," by
a 93-5 vote. This came after the
House approved the bill 279-130 last
week. The bill eliminates the
Deferred Retirement Option Plans
(DROP) provision, and includes the
"Healthcare Enhancement for Local
Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees Act,"
both of which the FOP had been
lobbying for quite some time now.
"The bill is a major victory for our
officers, many of whom are hurt by
the DROP provision and have trouble
affording decent health insurance,"
National President Chuck Canterbury
stated. "Many of our officers are
forced to retire earlier than the
rest of the general population and
are unfairly penalized because of
this. This bill will help end this
and save many of our officers a
great deal of money."
The DROP provision, which is
included in section 828 of H.R. 4,
would eliminate the ten percent
(10%) early withdrawal penalty from
a government defined benefit plan
for public safety officers
participating in Deferred Retirement
Option Plans (DROP). Under current
law, a law enforcement officer who
leaves active service before the age
of 55 and opts to receive a lump-sum
payment under DROP before the age of
59 ½ is subject to an early
withdrawal penalty of ten percent
(10%).
The HELPS provision, which is
included in Section 845 of H.R. 4,
would provide a modest tax benefit
to help retired public safety
officers afford health insurance by
allowing the use, on a pretax basis,
of up to $3,000 annually from their
pension funds (including defined
benefit plans and defined
contribution plans) to pay for
premiums on health care and
long-term care insurance. |
