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Naples City Council members are covered.

That wasn’t always the case, and retiring council members had needed to add “find health insurance” to their to-do list.

But the council voted 6-1 earlier this month to adopt a retirement health benefits plan.

The plan will allow council members to purchase the city’s health insurance if they retire after six years of service, and will come at no extra cost to the city, according to Human Resources Director Denise Perez.

Councilman Gary Price cast the dissenting vote.

“We’re not everybody, we’re public servants,” Price said during the June 4 council meeting. “This would be the greatest thing for my family, for us to do this. This would be the best thing that could happen to me as an individual. (But) I don’t think we should be treated as a retiree.”

The mayor and council are eligible to continue health, dental and life insurance benefits, but only after six years of service. That means that a one-term councilman who was not re-elected, or who did not seek re-election, is not eligible for the benefits, Perez said.

Extending the program to retired elected officers will not come at an additional cost to the city, though.

“Under the city’s current point of service plan, retirees pay 100 percent of the annual premiums and there is no cost to the city — other than payment of medical claims incurred since the city’s health plan was self-insured,” Lori Parsons, the city’s risk manager, wrote in a memo to council.

These health benefits are the only retirement perk that Naples City Council receives.

That’s not the case for other elected officials in Collier County.

According to spokesmen for both the Collier County Commission and the Collier County School Board, elected leaders receive retirement benefits through the Florida retirement system.

Leanne Zinser, a spokeswoman for the Collier County School District, said the district currently pays 16.53 percent of the board member’s salary toward retirement. It’s the same percentage that Collier County government pays into the system for retiring commissioners.

This state plan, however, doesn’t include health insurance benefits.

According to a 2006 guide to the Florida Retirement System, “Florida public employers that provide group insurance plans for active employees must offer their retiring employees the opportunity to continue participation in these group plans.”

Those retirees who have health insurance are eligible for a monthly supplement to help pay for their insurance.

Zinser said all district employees are eligible to continue medical, dental, vision and flexible spending accounts through COBRA for 18 months after leaving the district.

While those benefits also are extended to board members, Zinser said no other special provisions “have been implemented at this time for board members.”

Enrolling in the city’s health insurance plan isn’t something new. Council members have been allowed to opt into the health program like the rest of the city employees.

There are currently 28 retired city employees — not council members — participating in the city’s health insurance plan, Perez said in an e-mail.