Your report in "Albany police approve insurance change," Nov. 16, that police officers receive free health insurance for life after eight years of service is concerning.
I realize someone in possession of actual officer employment and actuarial data may have exact numbers, but consider this: Let's say an officer joined the force at age 23 and worked eight years until he was 31. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the average U.S. life expectancy is 78 years. Accepting the prevailing wisdom that police officers have a reduced life expectancy, that officer would still be getting 35 to 45 years of free health insurance.
Yes, this is an unsustainable problem, concerning all the more that our public servants have in the recent past seemed indignant when asked to renegotiate this.
One could appreciate how concerned parents may advise their coming-of-age children to move away from Albany when beginning their adult lives.
Those in government who have agreed to and allowed these arrangements are equally to blame for these backbreaking financial burdens. It would appear the public servant has instead become the master.
Dr. James Nalbone
Delmar
