The following answers were provided by NNPS, with a few minor edits for clarity.
Does the school board pay a portion of health, dental and vision insurance when an employee retires?
If an employee is eligible, the school board will pay a portion of the premium toward health. Eligibility depends on several things: when an employee was hired, how long they have worked, and their age at retirement. This is all covered in school board policy. The links for the policies are below.
This link is a video that provides a high level of eligibility for retiree health.
This link is for the Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) policy.
The 3 links below explain the various eligibilities based on hire and retirement dates.
There is no school board contribution toward the cost of dental for a retiree.
There is no school board contribution toward the cost of vision coverage for active employees or retirees.
What is the percentage rate if the school board pays into a portion of the retirees insurances?
If an employee is eligible, the percentage varies based on years of service and whether they have a sick leave balance as explained in policy. The percentage ranges from 25% to 100%.
Is it true retired health insurance increases from when they were still a full time employee? If so, what is the justification on why the rate increases?
The current policies were effective July 2011. As part of the change, retiree health insurance was carved out to be its own pool of members. Retirees were a small percentage of the covered members but were responsible for a large percentage of the claims. This caused active employee rates to increase considerably in order to subsidize the retiree plans. The retirees are now self-rated. Their costs are based on their claims.
Are there any ideas or solutions to make it easy for the retired employees in the future? If so can you elaborate on any possible solutions?
NNPS has allowed retirees to go to the exchange and be reimbursed with their portion of school board contribution toward the cost, if they can find something on the exchange that is more affordable.
Newport News Education Association 
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