When municipal employees retire it takes several months before they start receiving pension checks from the city and another few months before those checks reflect the optional rider to the health insurance plan that retirees must pay for.

To make up for the period during which no health insurance deductions were taken, the city used to take out a double deduction for many months. We felt the double deduction was a hardship.

Under a policy that went into effect September 1, 1993, the makeup deduction is limited to $35 per pension check. The lower makeup deductions were worked out by the Municipal Labor Coalition, of which the UFT is a part, and the New York City Employees Health Benefits.

While the new plan will mean that pension checks are reduced a lesser amount for new retirees, it is highly advisable that new retirees keep careful records of their health plan costs and the deductions.

Retirees should multiply their health plan costs by the number of months in which the city did not deduct that amount, and then keep track of the total as the city starts to take out $35 per pension check until the exact amount has been made up.