CalPERS Leaves Medical Costs For 5 Valley, Sierra Counties In Bay Area Region
YOLO COUNTY (CBS13) — One of the nation's largest public pension funds moved Yolo County into the Sacramento region, but left nearly half a dozen others in its Bay Area region, despite the fact some are more than 100 miles away.
A CBS13 story revealed Yuba, Sutter, Nevada, Amador, San Joaquin and Yolo counties were classified as being in the Bay Area by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, despite being much closer to Sacramento. Someone who lived just miles outside of Sacramento ended up paying up to 15 percent higher medical premiums.
One Woodland firefighter says he pays $200 more a month in Yolo County than a co-worker who lives just 20 miles away in Sacramento.
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In a meeting on Tuesday, a CalPERS committee voted to keep all six counties in the Bay Area.
But the full administrative board changed that slightly, voting to move just Yolo County in the Sacramento region.
West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon celebrated the change in his county.
"It's a great win for residents and employees in our broader Sacramento region, both in terms of the savings they'll get in their health care premiums, but also just standing up to the big guy and saying 'No no, that wasn't, that's just not right, and we're just not going to stand for it."
Meanwhile, residents as far away as the California-Nevada border will still be paying that 15 percent premium for their medical premiums.
We asked why only Yolo County was moved to the Sacramento region, and all that CalPERS would say is the move would cause a "negligible impact" for the Bay Area employees.
