NOTE 13

OTHER POSTEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

In addition to the pension benefits described in Note 11, the State provides certain health care insurance benefits, in accordance with State statutes, for retired employees. Substantially all employees may become eligible for these benefits if they reach normal retirement age while working for the State. The State provides health care credits against monthly health insurance premiums of certain retirees based on various factors, including unused sick leave (see Note 1, "Compensated Absences") at the time of retirement. The cost of retiree health care benefits is recognized as an expenditure/expense as claims are paid. Expenditures for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1995, were approximately $2.7 million for approximately 1,800 eligible retirees. It is the State's practice to record a liability for expected conversion of sick leave to health care premiums for all employees in accordance with GASB Statement No. 16, "Accounting for Compensated Absences." The amount of this accrual at June 30, 1995, as it pertains to employees of the primary government, was approximately $45 million and is recorded in the General Long-Term Debt Account Group. Individual component units have recorded this liability and it is included within the respective Higher Education and Other Discretely Presented Component Units columns.