Mass Retirees
Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts, representing over 52,000 retired public employees and survivors.
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is the largest organization of its type in Massachusetts. With its stature, the Association has created a remarkable history of legislative achievement. Most recently, it successfully enhanced the cost-of living formula for retired state employees and teachers, which followed on the heels of our landmark legislation allowing local retirement systems to do the same, while it also increased pensions for certain widows.
06/17/2026
For most retirees, income doesn’t come from one place—it’s a patchwork of streams assembled over a lifetime of saving and working. The 2026 EBRI/Greenwald Retirement Confidence Survey puts some numbers on that mix, revealing how many retirees rely on each source.
Why more retirees rely on pensions than most people realize Key Takeaways Less than 30% of today’s workers have a defined benefit pension, yet more than half of current retirees receive pension income.Public-sector workers are more likely to have pensions than private-sector workers, and the benefits they pay are typically much larger.Most retirees piece t...
The latest from the Public Sector Healthcare Roundtable:
Senate HELP Committee to Markup Bipartisan Solutions to Lower Drug Prices
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) is scheduled to meet Wednesday, June 17, to markup three bipartisan pieces of legislation aimed at addressing anti-competitive tactics in the pharmaceutical industry and bringing more affordable alternatives to market.
• The Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act of 2025 (S.3014) tightens rules around filing citizen petitions, which are used by drug manufacturers to delay FDA approval of cheaper generic drugs.
• The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S.2658) works to tackle ‘evergreening’- a tactic drug manufacturer use to extend the exclusivity period, and high cost, of their drug.
• The Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (S.1954) aims to cut prices and increase competition in the pharmaceutical market by categorizing biosimilar drugs as interchangeable with their name-brand counterparts.
Over the past year, the Roundtable has regularly joined bipartisan congressional meetings with the Campaign For Sustainable Rx Pricing to advocate for the legislation being considered as a range of other proposals that reduce the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals by promoting a competitive drug market.
06/15/2026
Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). WEAAD aims to promote a better understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect. For more information, click here: https://bit.ly/31b3gNO
06/15/2026
(BOSTON—6/4/2026) The Massachusetts Senate today unanimously passed legislation to allow longtime (active) public school teachers the opportunity to buy into an enhanced savings program if they missed out when the program was first launched a quarter century ago.
An estimated 6,500 to 8,500 current teachers in Massachusetts have been unable to participate in the RetirementPlus pension program because they missed the window to opt into the plan in 2001.
The bill—S.3109, An Act relative to benefits for teachers—would provide another one-time opportunity to that group of longtime educators and give them until mid-2027 to choose whether they would like to join RetirementPlus.
Press Room (BOSTON—6/4/2026) The Massachusetts Senate today unanimously passed legislation to allow longtime public school teachers the opportunity to buy into an enhanced savings program if they missed out when the program was first launched a quarter century ago.
Weekly Update, June 12, 2026: Our main focus this week is a preview of the upcoming July edition of our newsletter The Voice, which is now being printed and will appear in Mass Retirees Association members’ mailboxes next week.
Leading off our July edition is a full report on the COLA Reform legislation passed by the House in April, which is now in conference committee. We remain cautiously optimistic that this proposal will be approved by the full House and Senate as part of the FY27 budget likely to be sent to Governor Healey in early July.
Our COLA reporting also includes the latest news across our 102 local retirement systems, where a total of 18 communities have increased their respective COLA base for FY27.
Healthcare affordability and the growing threat of plan design changes and cost shifting that would harm public retirees and employees are the subject of several articles. This includes our ongoing work with municipal health plans, as well as the new developments with the state’s Group Insurance Commission, retiree dental insurance, and prescription drug prices under Medicare.
Further we provide a full update on pending legislation directly impacting retired MA public employees, including the Senate-approved increase in post-retirement earnings limits that is also in the budget conference committee.
In addition, Association members should look to our Weekly Update email for our initial thoughts on this week’s Social Security Trustees report on the pending shortfall of Social Security in 2032. If the program is not reformed and its finances bolsters, it will force a 22% reduction in benefits Social Security retirement benefits in just 6 years!
Again, please look to the Weekly Update full details on these issues and more. The Weekly Update is emailed to all Mass Retirees members, for whom we have a valid email address, every Friday morning at 6:00 AM.
If you are not currently a member of the Mass Retirees Association, please join today using the links below. Given the fight public retirees now face, maintaining a strong well-informed membership is more important than ever. Please help support the work we are doing on your behalf by becoming a member.
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is a private statewide nonprofit membership association advocating on behalf of ALL retired Massachusetts public employees and surviving spouses. If you are a retired Massachusetts public employee, but not currently a member, please join today at https://massretirees.com/new-members-join/
We also offer an Associate Membership option to allow active public employees nearing retirement age to subscribe to our Weekly Update, newsletter, and other informational resources that will keep you well informed and help you better prepare for your future retirement. Subscribe today at https://massretirees.com/subscribe/
06/09/2026
The annual Social Security trustees’ report, published on Tuesday, moved up the insolvency date for retirement benefits from 2033 to 2032. That means Social Security will become insolvent in just 6 years!
If the looming crisis is not addressed by Congress, Social Security recipients will face a 22% reduction in benefits in 2032. That cannot be allowed to happen!
This is a fixable problem, that must be addressed soon. It is also an issue that should be front and center during both the 2026 midterm elections, as well as the next presidential election in 2028. Social Security is far too important to simply leave to chance.
Opinion | Every 2028 candidate needs a Social Security plan The program is now projected to run out of money during their term.
Weekly Update, June 5, 2026: Ensuring that the board members and staff serving our 104 public retirement systems are well informed and up to date on all aspects of retirement law and policy is critically important. In fact, MA public retirement law requires board members to engage in continued education throughout their terms.
At its spring and fall conferences, the Mass Association of Contributory Retirement Systems (MACRS) provides continuing education credits and other resources for board members. Founded in the 1930s, MACRS has long been a valuable information resource.
Early this week, MACRS held the Annual Kevin J. Regan Spring Conference in Springfield. With several hundred members in attendance, our Association’s leadership team participated in two separate presentations: A healthcare panel featuring BCBS and the Group Insurance Commission; then a presentation on COLA Reform and the pending increasing in the post-retirement earnings cap.
As Mass Retirees members know, both the House-passed COLA Reform measure and the Senate-passed increase in post-retirement earnings is now subject to the House/Senate FY27 budget conference committee.
Association members and associate members are invited to attend our Cape Cod Area meeting taking place in Hyannis on Thursday, June 11th. Area meetings and other Association events are exclusively open to all dues-paying members. Please look to this week’s Weekly Update email or our April edition of The Voice for full event details.
The Weekly Update is emailed to all Mass Retirees members, for whom we have a valid email address, every Friday morning at 6:00 AM.
If you are not currently a member of the Mass Retirees Association, please join today using the links below. Given the fight public retirees now face, maintaining a strong well-informed membership is more important than ever. Please help support the work we are doing on your behalf by becoming a member.
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is a private statewide nonprofit membership association advocating on behalf of ALL retired Massachusetts public employees and surviving spouses. If you are a retired Massachusetts public employee, but not currently a member, please join today at https://massretirees.com/new-members-join/
We also offer an Associate Membership option to allow active public employees nearing retirement age to subscribe to our Weekly Update, newsletter, and other informational resources that will keep you well informed and help you better prepare for your future retirement. Subscribe today at https://massretirees.com/subscribe/
Weekly Update: May 29, 2026: Thus far, the Fiscal Year 2027 budget process has proven to be highly beneficial to public retirees. Not only have the budgets filed by Governor Maura Healey and since passed by the House and Senate met the state’s commitment to retirees, but the legislature has opted to include several measures of great importance to our members.
Just last week, the State Senate unanimously approved the addition of two retiree focused amendments to the FY27 budget. An amendment initiated by the Mass Police Association and backed by Mass Retirees, filed by Senator Michael Moore, would increase post-retirement work earnings limits. A second adopted amendment, filed by Senator Cindy Friedman, helps protect access to out-of-network healthcare services for GIC enrollees here in Massachusetts.
The Senate’s support for public retirees follows the House of Representative’s passage of a landmark COLA Reform measure contained within its version of the FY27 budget approved in late April. While COLA Reform was not included within the Senate budget due largely to timing, we remain cautiously optimistic that the measure will be included within the House/Senate FY27 Conference Committee report and passed into law this year.
Mass Retirees members should look to our Weekly Update email for further details on these issues, as well as the latest news related to retired Massachusetts public employees.
The Weekly Update is emailed to all Mass Retirees members, for whom we have a valid email address, every Friday morning at 6:00 AM.
If you are not currently a member of the Mass Retirees Association, please join today using the links below. Given the fight public retirees now face, maintaining a strong well-informed and engaged membership is more important than ever. Please help support the work we are doing on your behalf by becoming a member.
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is a private statewide nonprofit membership association advocating on behalf of ALL retired Massachusetts public employees and surviving spouses. If you are a retired Massachusetts public employee, but not currently a member, please join today at https://massretirees.com/new-members-join/
We also offer an Associate Membership option to allow active public employees nearing retirement age to subscribe to our Weekly Update, newsletter, and other informational resources that will keep you well informed and help you better prepare for your future retirement. Subscribe today at https://massretirees.com/subscribe/
05/24/2026
Waking to this news is incredibly heartbreaking. For generations, the Kilduff family have been true public servants in every sense - both on and off the job. BK’s dad, Bobby Kilduff, served as legislative agent for the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts (PFFM) and worked closely with our Association for years advocating to protect ALL retired public employees. Bobby passed away in 2008 due to occupational cancer. Firefighting remains a very dangerous profession. RIP BK. Our deepest condolences to the Kilduff family, as well as to the men and women of Boston Firefighters Local 718 IAFF.
Weekly Update, May 22, 2026: Mass Retirees members know that a main aspect of our day-to-day work focuses on retirees’ continued access to high quality and affordable health insurance, and healthcare. Sharply higher costs, combined with tightening state & local budgets, put these benefits at risk.
This week we return to the topic of healthcare to report on recent activity involving our Association, as well as administrative and legislative activity focusing on specific reforms.
Last Thursday, Mass Retirees officials participated in two separate important healthcare events: The BCBS 2026 Labor Affairs Forum and a meeting of the Health Policy Commission’s Advisory Committee - on which our Association’s Director of Healthcare and Retirement Advocacy Nancy McGovern is a recent appointee.
Mass Retirees has been a member of the BCBS Labor Forum for more than 40 years. Not only are the Blue’s an excellent source of healthcare information and policy research, but we have long worked closely on all issues impacting municipal insurance plans and, importantly, public retirees.
On the legislative front, action was taken in both the House and Senate this week to further protect public retirees and employees’ access to affordable healthcare. The Committee on Public Service favorably released a Mass Retirees backed bill aimed at requiring transparency in municipal health insurance was reported favorable. Just yesterday, the Senate approved budget amendment #493, which protects GIC enrollees seeking out-of-network care here in Massachusetts.
Finally, yesterday’s meeting of the state’s Group Insurance Commission included discussion on possible steps that can be taken to gain control over the rising costs of healthcare – specially hospital costs here in Massachusetts.
Please look to our Weekly Update email for full details on these issues. The Weekly Update is emailed to all Mass Retirees members, for whom we have a valid email address, every Friday morning at 6:00 AM.
If you are not currently a member of the Mass Retirees Association, we encourage you to please join today using the links below. Given the fight public retirees now face, maintaining a strong well-informed and engaged membership is more important than ever. Please help support the work we are doing on your behalf by becoming a member.
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is a private statewide nonprofit membership association advocating on behalf of ALL retired Massachusetts public employees and surviving spouses. If you are a retired Massachusetts public employee, but not currently a member, please join today at https://massretirees.com/new-members-join/
We also offer an Associate Membership option to allow active public employees nearing retirement age to subscribe to our Weekly Update, newsletter, and other informational resources that will keep you well informed and help you better prepare for your future retirement. Subscribe today at https://massretirees.com/subscribe/
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11 Beacon Street, Ste 309
Boston, MA
02108
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