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What you need to know about HELPS changes

Who this change affects:

  • Retired public safety officers for whom TMRS pays health insurance payments.
  • Cities who provide retiree health insurance.

Why are we changing:

New legislation allows eligible retired public safety officers to pay their health insurance premiums directly to their insurer and still claim their HELPS income exclusion.

What is changing:

  • Beginning March 1, TMRS will not accept new HELPS applications.
  • After TMRS pays the March HELPS insurance premium on March 31, we will stop paying all insurance premiums.
  • Beginning immediately, HELPS-eligible retirees should follow their insurer’s instructions for paying their insurance premium payments.

What is NOT changing:

  • TMRS will continue to send retirees their IRS Form 1099-R in January of each year that reports their total benefit payments.
  • The retiree will continue to exclude the amount of their HELPS insurance premiums when they file their tax return.
  • In January 2024, TMRS will provide retirees the amount of their insurance premiums that were paid by TMRS in 2023.

City contacts can request the names of their city’s HELPS retirees by emailing education@tmrs.com.