The Polaroid Corporation became the latest disturbing example of what can go wrong for these members. In October, the Polaroid Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced that, as a result, they were immediately discontinuing health and life insurance coverage for retirees and survivors.Its decision created a nightmare for members who opted not to take the plan provided to them by the state or municipalities, instead joining the Blue Cross Blue Shield plans offered through Polaroid. At one point in time, the company covered 100% of the premium for retirees, survivors and active employees.

However, the process and rules governing reinstatement in or joining the public plan for the first time after retirement are somewhat confusing for many members. Some municipalities, like Arlington and Boston, readily accept retirees into their plans, regardless when the person retired. Others, like Cambridge and Walpole, feel that a retiree needed to be enrolled in the plan at the time of retirement in order to qualify for coverage.

Under the state plan operated by the Group Insurance Commission, state retirees are allowed to rejoin the plan after their retirement date. However, retired municipal teachers (RMT), insured by the state, must have been enrolled in their municipal health plan at the time of retirement, in order to qualify for coverage after they retired. A similar circumstance applies to retirees of the abolished counties, who now receive insurance coverage through the state GIC.

Senator Brian Joyce (D-Milton), has filed a bill (S1426) that would require that retirees be allowed to enter the insurance plans, regardless whether or not they carried the public insurance plan at the time of retirement. The bill is an effort to further clarify the state law, by codifying the state court decisions and federal laws into Chapters 32A and B.

Ever since word began to circulate that Polaroid was contemplating the elimination of the retiree health care, the Association has been working closely with a number of members who are seeking enrollment in a plan offered by their former public employer.

"Most municipalities have been helpful getting our members back into the plans that they are entitled to be enrolled in," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "Unfortunately, not all communities have been cooperative, despite the fact that these retirees have saved the taxpayers large sums of money by not previously enrolling in the plan."

One early success story in this process comes from Helen Whalen, a retiree from the Arlington Retirement System. Helen served for twenty-four years as a secretary in the Arlington School System, before retiring in 1984. Her husband worked for Polaroid for a short time, but was able to earn a small pension along with access to the company's retiree healthcare plans.

Upon learning that their Polaroid insurance was to be cancelled, the Whalens sent a written request to Arlington Town Manager Philip Farrington, asking to be reinstated in the town's retiree insurance plan. Within days of receiving the request, Farrington contacted Helen Whalen and agreed to immediately reinstate her and her husband in the town's insurance plan.

"It was such a relief to hear from Mr. Farrington so soon after contacting the town. When Polaroid cut us off without warning, we were simply panic stricken," said Helen Whalen. "Not knowing where else to turn, I contacted the Association and was advised by Shawn Duhamel to request reinstatement in Arlington. I am just so grateful to the town for doing the right thing and letting us join their retiree plan; otherwise, I don't know what we would have done."

Other members have not been as fortunate. Claire Tyner, a 1999 retiree from the Walpole School Department where she had served as a secretary, had been insured through her husband George under the Polaroid plan.

Like the Whalens, the Tyners contacted the town as soon as they received their cancellation notice from Polaroid. However, unlike Arlington, the town of Walpole will not allow retirees to rejoin the health insurance plan after they retire from the town.

When George Tyner retired from Polaroid in 1999, he was required to pay $143.25 a month for him and his wife to enroll in HMO Blue. By October 2001, the monthly premium had jumped to $352.33. If they choose to continue HMO Blue under COBRA, the monthly premium will be $719.54.