Today the Board of Supervisors in Sacramento County is scheduled to confront an issue with which government agencies across California and the nation will soon be grappling: the long-term cost of health benefits for retired public employees.

Unlike most private employers, most public agencies in California subsidize the medical insurance of employees who retire before they turn 65 and become eligible for the federal Medicare program. But few of those agencies have set money aside to cover the cost of their retirees' insurance. As more employees retire and draw on that benefit, and as health care costs increase, the costs are growing.