After spending more than three decades responding to emergencies and serving the people of Corpus Christi, retired Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Randy Paige thought his retirement would bring a different pace of life.
Instead, he says he’s now facing a significant increase in the cost of his health insurance.
Paige retired from the Corpus Christi Fire Department in January 2025.
When he received his annual open enrollment information from the city, he says he initially thought there was an error.
“I thought it was a mistake. So I called to make sure that that was accurate.”
Paige says his monthly premium for himself and his spouse is increasing from about $805 to $1,548 beginning October 1.
That’s an increase of about $743 a month, or nearly $9,000 a year.
“The vast majority of the increase is over $500 a month is from the city of Corpus Christi.”
Paige says about 50 retired firefighters are affected by the increase. He worries some retirees may not be able to afford the higher premiums.
“I have no doubt they’re going to have to drop insurance. It’s a shame that we are going to have retirees out there with no health insurance that gave 30 years to this city,” said Paige.
The city says retiree health insurance premiums increased this year across all three retiree plans fire, police and civilian.
Odette Cruz, the city’s assistant director of human resources, says the rates are determined through the city’s annual budget process and are based on several factors.
“We look at how much the premiums were the year before, what our balances, what our trends are in terms of costs, how many people went to the doctor, how much money we have available and we assess a premium based on all of those factors.”
Cruz says rising medical costs are also playing a role.
“Medical inflation is a real thing. Cost is increased very much consistently over the last few years.”
The city says the fire retiree plan is different from the police and civilian plans because fire retirees receive a contribution from a trust fund established through the fire union’s collective bargaining agreement.
For fiscal year 2027, the city says a fire retiree with no spouse or dependents pays $395.01 a month for the Consumer Driven Health Care Plan.
The city says the actual cost of that plan is $895.01, with a $500 monthly contribution applied toward the premium.
The city also says the number of retirees enrolled in the fire retiree plan increased by about 40% this year.
Cruz says that means the contribution is being spread among more retirees.
“Due to an increase in the number of retirees between last year and this year, that slice of the pie is a little smaller for each individual person. That of course does translate into an increase in the premium that’s going to be paid per person.”
Paige says he understands there are several factors contributing to the increase. He says he’s fortunate that his pension allows him to absorb the additional cost.
But he worries about retired firefighters who receive smaller pensions.
Some retired firefighters are also under 65 and are not yet eligible for Medicare.
Paige says retirees who spent decades working for the city should not have to choose between their retirement income and health insurance.
He argues the city could have funded that additional cost rather than passing it along to retirees.
The city, however, says the premium rates reflect the cost of providing health care and the financial factors involved in maintaining the retiree health plans.
Paige says he has contacted several city council members about his concerns and hopes the city will reconsider the increases.