HUNTINGTON -- A Huntington Fire Department captain and a deputy chief with a combined 54 years of service retired Monday, saying they cannot afford the new health insurance plan for city employees.

Cabell Circuit Judge John Cummings issued an order Friday saying that Mayor David Felinton could implement the new plan for active employees beginning today, the first day of the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The city's police and firefighter unions had sought an injunction.

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The unions' complaint, which was filed at the same time as their request for an injunction, is still pending in court.

Monday's retirement of Deputy Chief Terry Berry and Capt. Rick Miller means they will be covered under the old insurance plan for at least four more months. Cummings stated in his order that the city must offer the old benefit plan to police and fire retirees for four months or until both sides can reach an amicable agreement.

Cummings also cites findings from a 1994 state Supreme Court case to state in his order that the new health insurance plan would "detrimentally alter" the benefits that retirees receive under the old plan.

"'Detrimentally alter' means that the plan provider cannot reduce the existing benefits ... without giving the employee sufficient money to pay the higher contributions," the order states.

Berry and Miller believe the order means they are guaranteed the same benefits as retirees that they received under the old insurance plan as active employees.

"I know I'm taking a risk by retiring now, because this could end up in court again," said Miller, a firefighter of 30 years. "But I think it's a better risk than staying with the department and being covered with the new health insurance plan."

"The mayor, City Council and the unions may eventually reach a compromise, but it will never be better than what we have now."

City officials have focused on changing health insurance benefits for almost a year now to deal with a budget that is being consumed by personnel costs. Health insurance and police and firefighter pensions were projected to account for 41 percent of the $38.5 million fiscal budget that came to a close Monday. All told, personnel costs made up 72 percent of the budget, which left about $10.7 million for public services.

Under the new health insurance plan, active employees' premiums will be about six times higher than the $12 or $25 a month they paid for single or family coverage under the old plan. Individuals will be required to pay $73 a month, while family premiums will increase to $153 a month.

The new plan will include a pre-tax program by which employees can have their premium contributions deducted before taxes. The estimated savings will be more than 25 percent, according to city officials.

Annual deductibles for active employees will be $1,500 for a single employee or retiree and $3,000 for a family plan. Deductibles were $250 per person under the old plan.

The city will offer employees annual health reimbursement accounts of $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families to help pay deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.

The city covers approximately 360 active employees and 160 retirees under its self-insured plan. Mountain State Blue Cross/Blue Shield is a third-party administrator.

Berry, a Huntington firefighter for almost 24 years, said he didn't want to retire until 2009. Had he waited to retire in September, he would have gained another 2 percent on his pension, or the equivalent of another $1,000 a year for the rest of his life.

But health insurance is the most important issue for his family, he said.

"It's a hell of a thing to work your entire career expecting and being promised a certain level of benefits," Berry said. "Then when you get ready to retire, someone jerks the rug out from under you.

"I feel betrayed by the city that I worked for and the people I protected."

Berry said his biggest gripe about the new insurance plan is the $5,200 in maximum out-of-pocket expenses that employees will have to pay if they or a family member becomes ill.

"We wouldn't care to pay more for the plan we've been under, but then the politicians wouldn't be able to tell the public that they changed it," he said. "They want to be able to say, 'We cut benefits, increased premiums, didn't approve pay raises and didn't raise fees, so vote for us.' That's what it truly amounts to."

Miller, 49, is still a year away from drawing his pension. He said he will now have to find another job to help pay the bills until his pension kicks in.

"I can't survive on zero income," he said.

The health insurance change could cause the retirement of one more firefighter, Fire Chief Greg Fuller said. A captain was contemplating retirement Monday afternoon, but had not notified the department of his decision, Fuller said.

There were not any abrupt retirements Monday in the Police Department, Police Chief Skip Holbrook said. Four officers with 99 years of combined service retired last week.

"They were all planning to retire at some point this year, but they wanted to go out under the old benefit plan," Holbrook said.

Felinton said he's discouraged to see Berry and Miller retire, but changing health insurance is a decision he had to make.

"It was done with the best interests of the public in mind and purely done for the betterment of the city," he said.

The mayor said Berry and Miller have been informed by the city that retiring before the new insurance plan takes effect doesn't necessarily guarantee them lifetime benefits under the old plan.

"That's my interpretation of the judge's order," Felinton said. "We're glad to use the four months that Judge Cummings gave us and negotiate with the unions on a new insurance plan for retirees as long as the total cost for all employees and retirees is $5.6 million."

That's the amount at which City Council capped health insurance costs for the 2008-2009 budget year in a resolution earlier this year. Felinton is not bound by law to adhere to the resolution, but said he will honor it since City Council ultimately approves union contracts.

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