Mass Retirees
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is the largest organization of its type in Massachusetts. With its stature, the Association has created a remarkable history of legislative achievement. Most recently, it successfully enhanced the cost-of living formula for retired state employees and teachers, which followed on the heels of our landmark legislation allowing local retirement systems to do the same, while it also increased pensions for certain widows.
06/17/2026
For most retirees, income doesn’t come from one place—it’s a patchwork of streams assembled over a lifetime of saving and working. The 2026 EBRI/Greenwald Retirement Confidence Survey puts some numbers on that mix, revealing how many retirees rely on each source.
Why more retirees rely on pensions than most people realize Key Takeaways Less than 30% of today’s workers have a defined benefit pension, yet more than half of current retirees receive pension income.Public-sector workers are more likely to have pensions than private-sector workers, and the benefits they pay are typically much larger.Most retirees piece t...
The latest from the Public Sector Healthcare Roundtable:
Senate HELP Committee to Markup Bipartisan Solutions to Lower Drug Prices
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) is scheduled to meet Wednesday, June 17, to markup three bipartisan pieces of legislation aimed at addressing anti-competitive tactics in the pharmaceutical industry and bringing more affordable alternatives to market.
• The Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act of 2025 (S.3014) tightens rules around filing citizen petitions, which are used by drug manufacturers to delay FDA approval of cheaper generic drugs.
• The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S.2658) works to tackle ‘evergreening’- a tactic drug manufacturer use to extend the exclusivity period, and high cost, of their drug.
• The Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (S.1954) aims to cut prices and increase competition in the pharmaceutical market by categorizing biosimilar drugs as interchangeable with their name-brand counterparts.
Over the past year, the Roundtable has regularly joined bipartisan congressional meetings with the Campaign For Sustainable Rx Pricing to advocate for the legislation being considered as a range of other proposals that reduce the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals by promoting a competitive drug market.
Weekly Update, June 12, 2026: Our main focus this week is a preview of the upcoming July edition of our newsletter The Voice, which is now being printed and will appear in Mass Retirees Association members’ mailboxes next week.
Leading off our July edition is a full report on the COLA Reform legislation passed by the House in April, which is now in conference committee. We remain cautiously optimistic that this proposal will be approved by the full House and Senate as part of the FY27 budget likely to be sent to Governor Healey in early July.
Our COLA reporting also includes the latest news across our 102 local retirement systems, where a total of 18 communities have increased their respective COLA base for FY27.
Healthcare affordability and the growing threat of plan design changes and cost shifting that would harm public retirees and employees are the subject of several articles. This includes our ongoing work with municipal health plans, as well as the new developments with the state’s Group Insurance Commission, retiree dental insurance, and prescription drug prices under Medicare.
Further we provide a full update on pending legislation directly impacting retired MA public employees, including the Senate-approved increase in post-retirement earnings limits that is also in the budget conference committee.
In addition, Association members should look to our Weekly Update email for our initial thoughts on this week’s Social Security Trustees report on the pending shortfall of Social Security in 2032. If the program is not reformed and its finances bolsters, it will force a 22% reduction in benefits Social Security retirement benefits in just 6 years!
Again, please look to the Weekly Update full details on these issues and more. The Weekly Update is emailed to all Mass Retirees members, for whom we have a valid email address, every Friday morning at 6:00 AM.
If you are not currently a member of the Mass Retirees Association, please join today using the links below. Given the fight public retirees now face, maintaining a strong well-informed membership is more important than ever. Please help support the work we are doing on your behalf by becoming a member.
Founded in 1968, Mass Retirees is a private statewide nonprofit membership association advocating on behalf of ALL retired Massachusetts public employees and surviving spouses. If you are a retired Massachusetts public employee, but not currently a member, please join today at https://massretirees.com/new-members-join/
We also offer an Associate Membership option to allow active public employees nearing retirement age to subscribe to our Weekly Update, newsletter, and other informational resources that will keep you well informed and help you better prepare for your future retirement. Subscribe today at https://massretirees.com/subscribe/
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Website
Address
11 Beacon Street, Ste 309
Boston, MA
02108
Opening Hours
| Monday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Friday | 8:30am - 5pm |
