Chiang: California Must Address Retiree Health Care Costs

In a Sacramento Bee opinion piece, California State Controller John Chiang (D) notes that the cost of providing retiree health benefits to state workers "has ballooned by a stunning $24 billion" in the past eight years. He argues that California "'pre-fund' retiree health care benefits by systematically setting aside enough money in a trust fund where the moneys are invested." He wrote that such an investment could cut the current cost of retiree health -- $72 billion -- by $25 billion, or 35%.

• "John Chiang: Numbers Reveal Unfunded Health Care Crisis" (Chiang, "Soapbox," Sacramento Bee, 1/4).