Oregon PERS paid about $4.6 billion in benefits to retired members or their beneficiaries living in Oregon in 2022. The $4.6 billion figure does not include payments from the Individual Account Program (IAP).

PERS conducts an annual economic impact study to show how benefits paid to PERS' retirees support the state’s economy. Funding for PERS retirement benefits comes mostly from investment earnings on contributions previously paid by PERS members and public employers.

The financial impact of PERS benefits is not limited to $4.6 billion. Benefit payments also generate tax revenue and support jobs and related wages.

When adjusted to include tax revenue, jobs, and wages, the value of PERS retirement payments to Oregon’s economy grows to $4.89 billion.

Read the full Economic Impact Study 2022 online.

New PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP) premiums for 2024 are set to take effect on January 1.

If you’re a PHIP participant, your payments will automatically adjust to the new rate whether you have your insurance premiums deducted from your monthly pension benefit or from a checking or savings account.

If you:

• Pay with your pension benefit, PHIP will notify you by mail if your insurance premium exceeds your monthly pension income.
• Pay by automatic withdrawal and are enrolled in bill-pay through your financial institution, you will need to notify them of the change.

Wondering what the new rates will be? Check out the 2024 Medicare and non-Medicare rates online.

If you have questions, contact PHIP at 503-224-7377 or 1-800-768-7377.

If you receive variable annuity payments as part of your PERS retirement, you will soon receive an adjustment to this portion of your monthly benefit.

Each year, PERS adjusts variable annuity payments in January based on earnings and losses posted to variable accounts through October 31 of the prior year. You will receive your first adjusted payment based on 2023 performance on February 1, 2024.

You also will receive a letter from PERS showing the amount of the adjustment in January 2024.

Variable annuity payments and adjustments apply only to members who remained in the Variable Annuity Program at retirement.

By Heather Case
PERS Senior Policy Advisor

Working with the Oregon Legislature is an ongoing process for PERS, the agency.

The Legislature meets each year in one of two types of sessions:

• Short session — Is 35 days long and occurs in even-numbered years.
• Long session — Is 160 days long and occurs in odd-numbered years.

This year’s session, which adjourned in June, was a long one, and PERS' staff members followed it the whole way to keep tabs on bills that could impact your retirement plans.

Besides tracking bills, PERS' staff also provided information and testimony to legislative committees about how certain bills could affect the agency's operations.

In the end, lawmakers passed multiple bills that the agency will work to implement in the coming months.

One such bill is House Bill (HB) 2296. This bill extends the rules for working after retirement that were originally set by Senate Bill (SB) 1049 in 2019. SB 1049 removed limits on the number of hours a retiree could work for a PERS-participating employer in a calendar year after retirement. HB 2296 extends the removal of limits until 2034. These rules, however, do not apply to early retirees or disability retirees.

Meanwhile under HB 2296, employers will pay contributions for retirees who work after retirement. These contributions will not go directly to the retirees’ account because they are already retired. Instead, the employer contributions will help pay down PERS’ unfunded actuarial liability, or UAL. In plain language, UALs occur when a pension system’s bills (e.g., benefits they pay or anticipate paying to current and future retirees) exceed its income (e.g., contributions coming into the plan from members and employers).

Under the rules of HB 2296, retirees are able to receive both their monthly retirement benefit payments and a paycheck from working, and the PERS plan receives additional contributions.

Read more about HB 2296 and other bills impacting PERS from the 2023 legislative session on our Enacted 2023 PERS legislation webpage.

The work for PERS doesn’t end with the legislative session. Once the Legislature adjourns, state agencies must work to implement all new laws to ensure we are in compliance on or before they go into effect.

For PERS, most of the legislation impacting the agency will go into effect on January 1, 2024, which will keep agency staff busy this fall and winter as we work to get the bills impacting PERS implemented.

Our implementation process usually begins with our policy team, who interprets what the bill says and what it directs the agency to do. That team meets with other departments to ensure that agency staff understands and can follow all requirements of the new bill. For example, this may involve updating information on forms you fill out as a member, how we process the forms you submit, and how Member Services answers your inquiries.

And while we work on implementing bills from the 2023 legislative session, agency staff also must look ahead at what’s coming next. That includes looking as far ahead as the 2025 long session. State agencies can request the Governor’s Office to introduce bills on behalf of the agency but only during those long sessions.

As PERS, the agency, plans for the 2025 legislative session, we will work with PERS members and employers regarding issues to take to the Legislature. We will present potential legislative ideas to the PERS Board during their April 2024 board meeting.

Don’t be a stranger! Keep your information with PERS up to date, and mail or fax your forms to us in a timely manner. Find the forms you need online.

ADDRESS CHANGES: PERS Member Services cannot update addresses by phone or email for security reasons. Use Online Member Services or the Information Change Request form to make updates. To change your address with the PERS Health Insurance Program, you will need to use the PHIP Address Change Form.

DIRECT DEPOSIT: Forms received by the 15th of any month will typically be processed and effective for the following month’s benefit payment. However, processing of direct deposits can take up to 60 days; until processing is complete, PERS will mail your benefit payment to your address on record.

TAX WITHHOLDING: Updating your address or providing residency status certification does not automatically change your withholdings. Submit a W-4P form (Tier One/Tier Two or OPSRP) to update withholdings for your PERS pension and IAP payments. W-4P forms received by the third week of the month typically will be processed in time for the following month’s benefit payment. 

DIVORCE: Contact Member Services about divorce and PERS benefits.

ACCOUNT ACCESS: The Authorization to Release Account Information form allows you to authorize a third party to obtain information regarding your PERS account or benefits. The Special Power of Attorney for PERS form gives the person(s) you designate the power to make decisions for PERS-related matters on your behalf.

DEATH NOTICES: After a PERS member dies, a representative should contact Member Services as soon as possible. Failure to report a death in a timely manner may result in having to pay back retirement payments and may delay payments to the deceased member's beneficiaries. PERS will require the date of death, city and state where the death occurred, a photocopy of the death certificate, and a spouse or personal representative contact information.  For PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP) members, a representative also should contact PHIP as soon as possible to report the death.

MOVING IN OR OUT OF OREGON: Some Tier One members may be eligible for a "tax remedy" increase in their monthly PERS benefit payments. To ensure you receive the proper benefit, update your residency status anytime you move in or out of Oregon. Note: Updating your residency status does not change your address or your impact tax withholding.

The Oregon Attorney General’s (AG) Consumer Advocate Program is recruiting volunteers to answer its consumer hotline. 

Program volunteers will answer callers’ consumer questions, provide appropriate referral information to other agencies and service providers, and send out forms and brochures. 

Volunteer shifts are available from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Training and reference materials are provided to help volunteers with answering calls. A staff member is on site at all times to guide volunteers.

For more information, email help@oregonconsumer.gov. The AG's Consumer Advocate Program and consumer hotline are part of the state Department of Justice.