Risk-Sharing in Retiree Medical Benefits

Trends: Trends In Retiree Health Benefits

Based on national surveys of employers from 1988 through 2001 and recent key-informant interviews, this paper examines trends in employer-based retiree health benefits. We assess trends in the availability of coverage to early and Medicare-eligible retirees, the cost of coverage, plan choice and enrollment, prescription drug coverage, and recent changes in plan design. During a period of low he...

Retiree Health Care Benefits: Data Collection Issues

The aging workforce and improvements in health care services have led to increased interest in the availability of health care benefits to retirees; gathering and tabulating data on this topic can be a challenge. The aging of the baby boom generation and their likely expanded use of health care services are well documented.1 Equally well reported is the debate over the obligation of employers t...

Retiree health benefits: trends and outlook.

Living with GASB 45: how to manage liabilities associated with retiree medical benefits.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 45 (GASB 45) obliges public employers to disclose liabilities related to postretirement medical benefits. Most state and local government entities are beginning to analyze and quantify how GASB 45 liabilities will affect their balance sheets and credit ratings. This article describes the many ways to reduce those liabilities without eliminat...

The Shifting Focus of Federal Intervention in Retiree Health Benefits

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has teetered on the brink of disaster each fall in recent years. The reasons are manifold, but the tipping point seems to rest improbably on a retirement benefit. Back in 2006, Congress decided the USPS should fund its accumulated future retiree health liability over a ten-year period. That translates to more than $5 billion due each September, which the ...