The Retiree Health Care Problem in Michigan

Many Local Governments Have Not Saved Enough for ‘Other Post-Employment Benefits’

Hundreds of local governments in Michigan — counties, cities, townships and villages — offer health care benefits to retired employees, called other post-employment benefits, or OPEB. But many of these governments have not set aside enough money to actually pay for these benefits when the bills come due.

Explore the information on this page to learn more about Michigan’s OPEB problem and how it might be affecting your local community.

This interactive map shows how much would be needed from residents in each jurisdiction to pay each community’s retiree medical insurance benefits. Some governments have either set aside money to pay for the benefits or never offered them to begin with. These entities are color-coded green on the map.