CONWAY. S.C. (WPDE) — Some retirees with the City of Conway will have a change in their health insurance coverage starting Thursday.
Retired City of Conway officials received a letter of notice from Conway’s human resources director and are speaking out over the way it was handled and how they feel they are being treated “unfairly.”
“I’m more upset about the fact of the way it happened than the money itself,” said Tim Chapman, retired Lieutenant with the City of Conway Police Department for 30 years.
Former City of Conway officials have pushed back after a letter was sent to retirees explaining a change to health insurance plans for those 65 and over beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
“We totally understand what the City of Conway is doing. But they waited 17 years, 17 years to pull this hat trick. Myself and some of the retirees over the age of 65, we were never told this,” Jimmy Hammond, retired from City of Conway Fire Department said.
The notice from the city said, “This amount reflects the policy established by the city council on October 27, 2008, and reaffirmed on March 6, 2025.”
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However, the retirees told ABC 15 they were never notified of that change until June and December of this year.
“Now they’ve come up and said at the age of 65, then you’re going to have to pay over 300-350 dollars for you to get your secondary insurance, your PEBA insurance. Now people think Medicare is free. It’s not. It comes out of our social security,” said Hammond.
Hammond said he’s been bringing his concerns to the city council during public input at 10 different council meetings, but has had no response.
“A couple of things that frustrated me was [when] I was on patrol a lot, and we had a lot of movement, and I would talk to the fellas and tell them, ‘man I know you can make more money at other departments but this insurance man, that’s the rest of your life you can’t give that up.’ I said, ‘It’s gonna cost you, you’re gonna save so much money at the end.’ Of course, they will say well that ain’t gonna last, and I say yes, it is,” said Chapman.
The letter said the city will contribute a maximum of $365.15 per month toward Medicare supplement health coverage and said anything more than that amount will become the retiree’s responsibility.
“In 18 years, it affects me. You know it affects a lot of people that are my age who are getting to retirement. Like I said, I retired two and a half years ago, and I found out when Jimmy called me in June and asked me, and I said to Jimmy, I have no idea what you’re talking about. And then I still did not get a letter until December,” said Jeremy Carter, retired from the City of Conway Fire Department.
They all said the City of Conway is an outstanding city to work for, but they said they just don’t understand why they weren’t informed of the changes earlier, so they could have had time to see what other options they had before retiring.
“They told me if I were to stay with them for the 25 years as they required, my insurance would be paid for me because they wouldn’t take my wife, she had high blood pressure back in them days. I stayed with them for 25 years, a little bit more. Now they’ve backed up on me, and it just doesn’t seem to be right,” said Eddie Scott, retired from the Conway Police Department after more than 25 years.
ABC 15 reached out to all city council members and the clerk, but has yet to hear back.
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ABC 15 understands offices are closed for the holidays, but we will continue to reach out to the city and bring the latest developments on air and online.
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