*** Please do not call the ERS regarding health insurance if you are a MPS, MMSD, United Water, Veolia or MATC retiree. Contact your agency directly. ***
The Health Benefits Open Enrollment period started on Monday, October 19, 2026 and ended on Friday October 30, 2026. If you did not wish to change your health and prescription drug benefits plan, you did not need to do anything.
Please make note of the following:
• Retirees under the age of 65 years will have a rate increase of 8.2%.
• Medicare retirees will have a rate increase of 20.9%
• Any benefit changes you make during the open enrollment period will take effect on January 1, 2027. You will continue to be covered under your current health plan through December 31, 2026.
• If you are choosing to drop your City of Milwaukee retiree coverage, both Medicare retirees and retirees without Medicare, you must notify the ERS in writing at least 30 days in advance. Please note that you must maintain health insurance coverage if you ever plan to return to the City of Milwaukee’s retiree coverage. At that time, you will be required to provide proof of creditable coverage during the period that you were not covered by the City’s plan.
• The ERS does not send automatic confirmations upon receipt of open enrollment forms. If you would like to receive confirmation of receipt, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for this purpose when submitting your form. We also recommend that you keep a copy of your open enrollment form for your records prior to mailing it to the ERS.
As of August 31, 2026, the Fund value was $6.72 billion, and the YTD return was 7.2%, net of fees.
You are a member of the ERS, and membership has its privileges. One of those privileges is access to the portion of our website that is all about you. We call it ERS Member Self Service. Click here for more details.
Other recent news can be found on the most recent newsletter.
Other important information can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Last Update: 11/2/2026