The changing nature of retiree health coverage

The erosion of employer-provider retiree health benefits is certain to continue, thanks to rising health care costs, growing retiree populations, uncertain business profitability and federal regulations that discourage employers from prefunding retiree medical benefits. As a result, benefits to futu...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of pension benefits 2003-03, Vol.10 (3), p.3
Hauptverfasser: McDevitt, Roland D, Mulvey, Janemarie, Schieber, Sylvester J
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The erosion of employer-provider retiree health benefits is certain to continue, thanks to rising health care costs, growing retiree populations, uncertain business profitability and federal regulations that discourage employers from prefunding retiree medical benefits. As a result, benefits to future retirees will be much less generous than those received by current retirees. To save future retirees from the fate that awaits them, a multifaceted policy change is needed to: 1. attack the cost of medical care by reforming Medicare, enlisting the forces of consumerism, managing high-cost cases, and identifying best practices in the treatment and use of technology, 2. help employees understand the demographic realities that will require many of them to work longer and play a greater role in financing their own medical care, and 3. create a tax environment that encourages employers and employees to fund these future medical expenditures from today's productivity.
ISSN:1069-4064