Conway Retirees Protest Health Insurance changes

CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) – Some retirees wiht the City of Conway will experience a change in their health insurance coverage starting Thursday.

Retired City of Conway officials received a notice from the city’s human resources director and are voicing concerns about the handling of the change and what they perceive as unfair treatment.

“I’m more upset about the way it happened than the money itself,” said Tim Chapman,retired lieutenant with the City of Conway Police Department after 30 years of service.

Former city of Conway officials are protesting after receiving a letter explaining a change to health insurance plans for those 65 and over, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

“We understand what the City of Conway is doing. But they waited 17 years to do this. Many of us over the age of 65 were never told about this,” said Jimmy Hammond, retired from the City of Conway Fire Department.

The city’s notice stated, “This amount reflects the policy established by the city council on October 27, 2008, and reaffirmed on March 6, 2025.”

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However, the retirees told ABC 15 they were not notified of the change until June and December of this year.

“Now they’ve said that at age 65, we’ll have to pay $300-$350 for our secondary insurance, our PEBA insurance. People think Medicare is free. It’s not; it comes out of our Social Security,” Hammond said.

Hammond stated he has raised his concerns during public input at 10 different city council meetings, but has received no response.

“A couple of things that frustrated me was [when] I was on patrol a lot, and we had a lot of movement, and I would talk to the fellas and tell”