Download or read book How Does Retiree Health Insurance Influence Public Sector Employee Saving written by Robert Louis Clark and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic theory predicts that employer-provided retiree health insurance benefits crowd-out household wealth accumulation. Nevertheless, there is little research on the impacts of retiree health insurance on wealth accruals, so this paper utilizes a unique data file on three baseline cohorts from the Health and Retirement Study to explore how employer-provided retiree health insurance may influence net household wealth among public sector employees, where retiree healthcare benefits are still quite prevalent. We find that most full-time public sector employees who anticipate receiving employer-provided health insurance coverage in retirement save less than their private sector uncovered counterparts.

Download or read book Retiree Health Plans in the Public Sector written by Robert L. Clark and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While retiree health plans are a dying benefit in the private sector, all US states and many local governments extend health insurance coverage to their retired employees. This book is the first to thoroughly examine public sector health insurance plans. Retiree Health Plans in the Public Sector provides a detailed description of the current plans offered and compares how they vary across states. Health insurance is an important component of compensation in the public sector as it helps governments attract and retain quality workers and encourages timely retirement for career employees. Rapidly rising medical costs, an aging labor force, and an increasing number of retirees have dramatically increased the cost of providing this benefit. A central theme of this analysis is a presentation of the actuarial accrued liabilities, the unfunded liabilities and the annual required contribution of the employers based on the actuarial statements for retiree health plans. The authors alsoinvestigate why some states face major funding problems while the costs of other states? plans are much more manageable. Extensively researched and well-suited for classroom and professional use alike, academics in the fields of economics and public policy will find this an unmatched resource. So too will policymakers, economists, legislators, public sector union leaders and those invested in public sector healthcare.

Download or read book The Role of Retiree Health Insurance in the Early Retirement of Public Sector Employees written by John B. Shoven and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most private sector workers with employer-provided health insurance have a strong incentive to continue working until Medicare eligibility in order to maintain group health coverage. However, most government employees have access to retiree health coverage, which allows them access to group health coverage even if they retire before Medicare eligibility. We study the impact of retiree health coverage on the probability of stopping work among public sector workers between the ages of 55 and 64. We find that, for state and local government employees, retiree health coverage raises the probability of stopping work by 5.1 percentage points (around 28 percent) between ages 60 and 64. However, we find no evidence that retiree health coverage influences state and local employees' decisions to stop work at ages 55-59, or that such coverage has an effect on the probability of stopping work for federal and military employees.

Download or read book The funding status of retiree health plans in the public sector written by Robert Louis Clark and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While no longer common in the private sector, most public sector employers offer retiree health insurance (RHI) as a retirement benefit to their employees. While these plans are thought to be an important tool for employers to attract, retain, motivate, and ultimately retire workers, they represent a large and growing cost. This paper reviews what is currently known about RHI in the public sector, while highlighting many important unanswered research questions. The analysis is informed by detailed data from states on their liabilities associated with RHI, which were produced in accordance with the 2004 Government Accounting Standards Board Rule 45 (GASB 45). We consider the extent of the unfunded liabilities states face and explore what factors may explain the variation in liabilities across states. The importance and sustainability of RHI plans in the public sector ultimately depends on how workers view and value this post-retirement benefit, yet little is known about how RHI directly impacts the public sector labor market. We conclude with a discussion of the future of RHI plans in the public sector.

Download or read book Iceberg Ahead written by Edmund J. McMahon and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "New York taxpayers spend billions of dollars a year on health insurance coverage for retired state and local government employees, many of whom are too young to be eligible for Medicare. But the mounting "pay-as-you-go" bill for retiree healthcare is just the tip of a much larger iceberg. Now, thanks to a new government accounting standard, the true cost of this long-term entitlement is finally emerging from the murky depths of state and local finances. Based on a review of financial reports for the state and its largest local governments, school districts and public authorities, this report estimates that New York's total unfunded liability for public-sector retiree health insurance comes to $205 billion. This figure represents a mammoth potential transfer of wealth from future taxpayers to current government employees and retirees--for a type of benefit that is not available to the vast majority of private-sector workers. The burden of retiree health care is clearly unsustainable and unaffordable. This report, designed as a primer on the issue for taxpayers and government officials, recommends a four-step plan for curbing retiree health care costs before it is too late."

Download or read book Providing Health Care Benefits in Retirement written by Judith F. Mazo and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, from the Pension Research Council of the Wharton School, highlights many of the special health insurance problems facing the elderly and some of the solutions that any reform process must consider.

Download or read book Retiree Health Benefit Trends Among the Medicare Eligible Population written by Paul Fronstin and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the prevalence of retiree health benefits among Medicare-eligible retirees. It discusses the percentage of retirees with employment-based retiree health benefits over the 1994-2008 period. It also examines the trend for individually purchased coverage as a supplement to Medicare. Perhaps the single most-important factor that has affected the availability of health benefits for retirees through former private-sector employers was a 1990 accounting rule. FAS 106 required companies to record and disclose retiree health benefit liabilities on their financial statements and triggered many of the changes to retiree health benefits, most notably the sharp decline in the benefits being offered. GASB Statements No. 43 and 45, which impose new accounting standards on public-sector sponsors of retiree health benefits, are similar to FAS 106 and will have a similar, if not greater, impact on the financial statements of public-sector entities. As a result of FAS 106 and the rising cost of providing retiree health benefits, most U.S. private-sector workers will never become eligible for health insurance in retirement through a former employer. Fewer employers are offering health benefits to future retirees; when those benefits are offered, eligibility criteria are becoming harder to meet; and employer subsidies are disappearing. In 2008, 26 percent of 65-69-year-olds had retiree health benefits, down from 32 percent in 1994, and the numbers are lower for older retirees. It is possible that the decline in coverage would have been even larger had it not been for changes in the work status of individuals eligible for Medicare. In 1995, 59 percent of individuals ages 65-69 considered themselves retired, and that fell to 53.6 percent in 2008, while those saying they were working increased from 28 percent in 1995 to 35 percent in 2008. The PDF for the above title, published in the January 2010 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the full text of another January 2010 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: “Employee Tenure, 2008.”

Download or read book Aging and the Macroeconomy written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-01-10 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is in the midst of a major demographic shift. In the coming decades, people aged 65 and over will make up an increasingly large percentage of the population: The ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 will rise by 80%. This shift is happening for two reasons: people are living longer, and many couples are choosing to have fewer children and to have those children somewhat later in life. The resulting demographic shift will present the nation with economic challenges, both to absorb the costs and to leverage the benefits of an aging population. Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population presents the fundamental factors driving the aging of the U.S. population, as well as its societal implications and likely long-term macroeconomic effects in a global context. The report finds that, while population aging does not pose an insurmountable challenge to the nation, it is imperative that sensible policies are implemented soon to allow companies and households to respond. It offers four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape.

Download or read book Implications of Health Reform for Retiree Health Benefits written by Paul Fronstin and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines how current health reform legislation being debated in Congress will impact the future of retiree health benefits. The paper also provides background on the impact of private-sector accounting rule changes on the availability of retiree health benefits since the mid-1990s; the more recent impact of public-sector accounting rule changes on retiree health benefits in the public sector; the impact on employment-based retiree health benefits of adding a drug benefit to Medicare; and the potential impact of current health reform legislation on employment-based health benefits for early retirees and Medicare beneficiaries. In general, the proposals' provisions will have a mixed impact on retiree health benefits: In the short term, the reinsurance provisions would help shore up early retiree coverage and Medicare Part D coverage would become more valuable to retirees. In the longer term, insurance reform combined with new subsidies for individuals enrolling for coverage through insurance exchanges, the maintenance-of-effort provision affecting early retiree benefits, increases to the cost of providing drug benefits to retirees, and enhanced Medicare Part D coverage, would all create significant incentives for employers to drop coverage for early retirees and drug coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees. With some exceptions, the House-passed legislation would prohibit employers from changing the benefits offered to retirees and their beneficiaries once a person has retired. This provision could have a number of different effects: More employers may move toward capping their contributions; employers that want to maintain retiree health benefits may react by cutting the health benefits of active workers; employers may eliminate retiree health benefits altogether to avoid being locked into providing a permanent benefit; or they may drop benefits if they think there is no need to provide them.

Download or read book Savings Needed to Fund Health Insurance and Health Care Expenses in Retirement written by Paul Fronstin and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the cost of health insurance and health care expenses in retirement. It examines recent trends in private- and public-sector retiree health benefits and the impact of these trends on current and future retirees. It also presents options that retirees currently have to supplement the Medicare program, and provides estimates of how much those options will cost current and future retirees.

Download or read book A History of Public Sector Pensions in the United States written by Robert Louis Clark and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2003-05-12 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Wharton School, offering a comprehensive assessment of the political and financial dimensions of public-sector pensions from the colonial period until the emergence of modern retirement plans in the twentieth century.

Download or read book Care Without Coverage written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-06-20 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.

Download or read book Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment written by Jeffrey R. Brown and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-12-15 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Security Policy in a Changing Environment analyzes the changing economic and demographic environment in which social insurance programs that benefit elderly households will operate. It also explores how these ongoing trends will affect future beneficiaries, under both the current social security program and potential reform options. In this volume, an esteemed group of economists probes the challenge posed to Social Security by an aging population. The researchers examine trends in private sector retirement saving and health care costs, as well as the uncertain nature of future demographic, economic, and social trends—including marriage and divorce rates and female participation in the labor force. Recognizing the ambiguity of the environment in which the Social Security system must operate and evolve, this landmark book explores factors that policymakers must consider in designing policies that are resilient enough to survive in an economically and demographically uncertain society.

Download or read book Savings Fitness written by Barry Leonard and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2007-12 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people mistakenly believe that Social Security (SS) will pay for all or most of their retire. needs, but the fact is, since its inception, SS has provided little protection. A comfortable retire. usually requires SS, pensions, personal savings & invest. The key tool for making a secure retire. a reality is financial planning. It will help clarify your retire. goals as well as other financial goals you want to ¿buy¿ along the way. It will show you how to manage your money so you can afford today¿s needs yet still fund tomorrow¿s. You¿ll learn how to save your money to make it work for you & how to protect it so it will be there when you need it. Explains how you can take the best advantage of retire. plans at work, & what to do if you¿re on your own. Illustrations.

Download or read book Public Finance and Public Policy written by Jonathan Gruber and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005 with total page 806 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chapters include: "Income distribution and welfare programs", "State and local government expenditures" and "Health economics and private health insurance".

Download or read book State and Local Retirement Plans in the United States written by Robert L. Clark and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State and Local Retirement Plans in the United States explains how economic and political events have shaped the development of pension plans in the last century, and it argues that changes in the structure and generosity of these plans will continue to shape policy and funding in the future. It also brings to bear a new rationale to the policies behind public sector pension plans. The authors use the history of how early public pension plans were established, how they matured and how they have grown in generosity to analyze what changes may be expected in years to come. Unique in its scope, this comprehensive history of the development of public sector pension plans in the United States during the twentieth century expands upon current ideas relating to the changing economic environment, the passage and evolution of social security, and the expansion of the public sector. With the exception of military pension plans, which date from the eighteenth century, the first public sector plans, dating from the late nineteenth century, were established to cover teachers, police officers and fire fighters in large cities. Over time, these retirement plans were extended to other public sector workers and the local plans were often merged with plans for state workers; all of these date from the twentieth century. Here, the authors show just how pension coverage for public sector workers expanded steadily, through the first half of the twentieth century, so that by the 1960s the vast majority of public sector workers were covered by a plan. This analysis demonstrates how economic events and shifts in public policy at the federal, state, and local levels helped to shape public sector retirement plans. The authors also compare public plans with private sector plans, and the final chapter focuses on recent changes in public pensions in response to the 'Great Recession', concurrent sharp declines in equity markets and the aging of the public workforce.

Download or read book Privatizing Social Security written by Martin Feldstein and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents the most important work to date on one of the pressing policy issues of the moment: the privatization of social security. Although social security is facing enormous fiscal pressure in the face of an aging population, there has been relatively little published on the fundamentals of essential reform through privatization. Privatizing Social Security fills this void by studying the methods and problems involved in shifting from the current system to one based on mandatory saving in individual accounts. "Timely and important. . . . [Privatizing Social Security] presents a forceful case for a radical shift from the existing unfunded, pay-as-you-go single national program to a mandatory funded program with individual savings accounts. . . . An extensive analysis of how a privatized plan would work in the United States is supplemented with the experiences of five other countries that have privatized plans." —Library Journal "[A] high-powered collection of essays by top experts in the field."—Timothy Taylor, Public Interest