Michigan's Unfunded health care costs top $20B

Phil Stoddard, Michigan's director of work force development and retirement services, said the state faces more than a $20 billion debt for health care costs promised to state employees and teachers.

When it comes to heath care expenses, the state is $6.9 billion in the hole or departmental workers who are not part of the educational community. The state is in the red for health care promises made to teachers in the $14 billion range. There also are expenses for health care for state police offi cers ($467 million) and judges ($3.9 million) that are not funded. That is more than a $20 billion debt for heath care benefits for which there is no funding.

The state's costs for health care for public employees has skyrocketed more than $300 million in the past six years. In 2000, the estimated cost for health care claims was just over $651 million. In 2006, that cost is expected to exceed $968 million, according to the Michigan Department of Management & Budget. The Oakland Press.
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