Winchester Select Board votes to cut retiree Medicare Part B benefits for future retirees

WINCHESTER -- June 15, 2026, Winchester Select Board restructures retiree health benefits and accepts $200,000 Rotary amphitheater gift. The board voted unanimously Monday to shift all retirees to a 50 percent Medicare premium-sharing level, fix Part B support for current retirees at $200 per month, and eliminate Part B coverage for employees retiring after August 1, 2026, changes effective January 1, 2027, affecting approximately 600 Medicare-eligible retirees. Member Paras Bhayani noted Part B spending has grown 66 percent over six years at an 8.8 percent annual rate, calling it "putting real pressure on our budget." A separate motion declared the board's earlier vote on a five-tier prescription drug redesign "under review pending more analysis" after Member Michelle Prior raised unresolved questions about its impact on retirees. The board also unanimously accepted the concept for a Rotary Club-funded granite amphitheater behind the Winchester Public Library, a privately managed $200,000 project slated for completion this fall, and voted to create a Long-Range Financial Planning Committee modeled on Arlington's bimonthly budget oversight body.