Court rules county retirees entitled to health care no matter who last employer was

Retired Cook County workers are entitled to county health care even if they later worked elsewhere.
An appellate court rejected a Cook County retirement boards last-employer rule. The courts decision allows retired county employees to keep their county health care even if they go on to another employer.In an opinion released last Friday, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a decision made by the Retirement Board of the County Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County, which oversees the Cook County Pension Fund. The boards decision had been upheld by Circuit Court Judge Kathleen M. Pantle.Pantles May 2018 ruling denied former county employee Lori Levin the ability to purchase health care through the retirement board.