Alaska workers who retire before 65 face nearly $3,000 a month for family health care

Alaska teachers and public workers in the state's 401(k)-style retirement plan who retire before 65 will pay the full price of their state health coverage next year, nearly $3,000 a month for a family.

New 2027 rates from the Division of Retirement and Benefits put family coverage at $2,990.13 a month. That's about $36,000 a year. A retiree covering only themselves will pay about $1,200 a month.

The bill drops once Medicare starts. A couple who are both Medicare age will pay about $1,300 a month for family coverage. For single coverage, retirees then pay only 10% to 30% of the premium, depending on how long they worked.

The rule covers members of the defined contribution plan, Tier IV of the Public Employees' Retirement System and Tier III of the Teachers' Retirement System. Until Medicare, they pay 100% of the plan's cost.

Retirees in the older pension plans who don't get system-paid medical coverage pay $2,060 a month for family coverage.

The cost has climbed. In 2024, pre-Medicare family coverage for defined contribution retirees was about $2,700 a month, according to the division's rate sheet that year.

The Legislature failed in May to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto of a bill that would have let public workers and teachers choose a pension instead.