Disability Retirement_Naparstek2.jpg

Factoids

319 teachers

As of May, 319 of the 52,508 retired teachers statewide were on accidental disability, or 0.6 percent.

Pensions rise $360 per year

Public employee pensions in Massachusetts increase by a maximum of 3 percent on the first $12,000 of a retirement allowance each year. That’s $360 per year.

Social Security differs in Mass.

Massachusetts is one of the 15 states in which public employees don’t pay into Social Security and don’t collect it. People who contributed to Social Security while working in the private sector then went into the public sector, lose as much as 55 percent of their Social Security benefit if they are also collecting a public pension.

Private sector funds Social Security

Most private sector employees – about 55 million nationwide – rely on defined contribution retirement plans, in which they are responsible for managing their money and there is no guaranteed benefit, to supplement Social Security.

Hypertension a major factor

About 75 percent of U.S. police, firefighters and EMTs prehypertension or hypertension, according to a 2008 study published in the American Journal of Hypertension. The study attributed the numbers to several factors including the physical and emotional stresses of the job and obesity rates.

Heart disease a top killer

Heart disease caused 45 percent of the deaths that occurred among U.S. firefighters while they are on duty between 1994 and 2004, according to a study from Harvard University. Heart disease caused 22 percent of the on-duty deaths among U.S. police officers during that same period.

Private sector numbers

Private sector employees contribute 6.2 percent of their gross pay to Social Security and their employers contribute another 6.2 percent. Self-employed workers contribute 12.4 percent.

Social Security disabilities

Social Security paid disability benefits to more than 9 million people in 2008, about 90 percent of them were considered disabled workers. Mental disorders was the diagnosis for about a third of the people considered unable to work.

10-year guarantee

Massachusetts has a defined benefit retirement program for its municipal, county and state workers. Public employees who work 10 years or more are guaranteed a retirement allowance consisting of a pension and at least a portion of what they paid into the system over the years plus interest, the annuity. They also get lifetime health benefits.

State Police: 27%

From June 2003 through June 2008, the rate of accidental disability retirements among State Police was 27 percent, or 90 out of 335 retirements.