More than 200 people were overpaid, underpaid
BAY CITY -- More than 200 McLaren Bay Region retirees who were affected by an error in the calculations of their pension are getting some answers.
The employees were asked to re-pay a total of more than $800,000 beginning March 1 because they were overpaid in pension benefits and 70 retirees were underpaid a total of $1.1 million.
McLaren released the following statement:
"McLaren Bay Region has elected to pursue an alternative to the initial information that was sent to retirees affected by the pension miscalculation.
"McLaren Bay Region will file a proposed amendment with the IRS which, if accepted, would correct the overpayment error.
"No one will be asked to repay any overpayments while this new option is being evaluated by the IRS, which could take 12-18 months. This will not affect any underpaid adjustments.
"On March 1, for the early retirees (before age 65) who were overpaid, the pension benefits will be lowered to comply with the original provisions of the plan.
"McLaren Bay Region regrets the error that occurred in calculations of benefits for late retirements (those who retire after age 65), resulting in under payments.
"For those who retired early (before age 65) the additional subsidy benefit was not being reduced, resulting in over payments."
