A Vote of No Confidence in John Gallagher, Executive Director of Ohio Police & Fire Pension System

Retirees of the Ohio Police & Fire were left with a substandard health insurance picks. Knowing OP&F was not required to supply health insurance they decided at the end of 2018 they were no longer offering health insurance and for us to receive a stipend each month to help fray the cost, but we were obligated to shop through a company chosen by OP&F which was AON/eHealth. Retirees under age 65 were forced to pick from one company chosen by eHealth and in some cases retirees had no company to pick from because of their geographical location. At seminars that were given to explain the transition we were told there would be several companies to choose from starting in November 2018. Some of these picks would be the same as we were receiving at the present through United Health Care. This statement was totally false. The majority had only one company to pick from or none. To receive the stipend you had to choose a company through AON/eHealth or lose the stipend if you shopped for a company on your own. The retirees were told the stipends would be taxed if the stipend was placed in pension checks. Some retirees had no problem with this distribution because they would be able to use the stipend to find a health insurance they liked and not lose their doctors or hospitals. OP&F refused to do this. Some of the retirees found out there were three companies who vied for the position to take over this transition, besides AON one of the others was United Health Care which already was taking care of healthcare to OP&F at the present. OP&F chose AON instead of United Health Care who already had a proven good record with retirees. The retirees who were 65 and older and on Medicare had United Health Care to choose from as a supplemental insurance. Even those 65 and older had better picks there was much confusion for them during the transition period. Retirees who called AON or eHealth were given different answers from reps each time they called or even hung up on. Those scheduled for phone calls from both of these companies never received the phone calls or were called after the scheduled time when they were not at home. John Gallagher who is the Executive Director of OP&F at the present was notified about these problems and continues to act like he was unaware and appalled by what is being done. It is known he was executive director in Chicago of their pension system and AON's corporate office is also located in the city of Chicago. At this time we the undersigned Retirees, Members of the Ohio Police & Fire Pension System and All Supporters of Police & Fire in the State of Ohio have No Confidence in John Gallagher and request the Board of Trustees to ask for his resignation or the Board act to remove him from the position of Executive Director.