The vote shows that some lawmakers are willing to sacrifice some of their own benefits in an era of state budget cuts to education and other services. Thursday's vote came after a 10 percent pay cut for state lawmakers, along with many other statewide elected officials, went into effect this year.

"As I've said before with other government reforms, the taxpayers of Michigan simply cannot afford to be as generous as they once were," Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger, among those who will lose eligibility for the benefits, said in a statement.

Current law allows ex-lawmakers who served at least six years in the Legislature to get health coverage once they turn 55, mostly at taxpayer expense. The benefit expires or is good only for supplemental coverage once an ex-lawmaker becomes eligible for Medicare.

The benefit has come under fire in recent years because many employees in both the public and private sectors have dealt with reductions in health care coverage. It cost about $5 million to provide health and dental benefits to 348 retired lawmakers and their dependents in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

There won't be any significant cost savings immediately, since all ex-lawmakers who have already qualified for the benefit will continue to be eligible.

The timeframe of the new legislation would preserve the future benefits for lawmakers who already have qualified for them or will by the end of this legislative session. Earlier this year, the House had passed a version of the legislation that would have eliminated the future coverage for all but a handful of current lawmakers. But most senators decided they didn't want to eliminate the benefit for lawmakers who'd already put in the time to quality for it.

Lawmakers had debated the issue for years but had not agreed on a final version of the plan until this week.

Some of the lawmakers who voted against the proposal this week said they did so because they thought the retiree health benefit should be eliminated for all lawmakers.