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 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 State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefits written by John E. Dicken and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-06 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accounting standards require governments to account for the costs of other post-employment benefits (OPEB) -- the largest of which is typically retiree health benefits -- when an employee earns the benefit. As state and local governments have historically not funded retiree health benefits when the benefits are earned, much of their OPEB liability may be unfunded. This report provides info. on governments' retiree health liabilities. It describes: (1) what has been reported in state and local governments' comprehensive annual financial reports regarding OPEB liabilities; (2) actions state and local governments have taken to address retiree health liabilities; and (3) the overall fiscal pressures these governments face. Charts and tables.
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 Health Care Benefit Costs for Retired Public Employees written by Susan K. Claveria and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Report Fiscal Year Ended written by United States Civil Service Commission. Bureau of Retirement and Insurance and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 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 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 Strengthening Financial Condition of Employees Life Insurance Fund written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Subcommittee on Retirement, Insurance, and Health Benefits and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 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 U S Postal Service Status Financial Outlook and Alternative Approaches to Fund Retiree Health Benefits written by U. s. Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2013-01-06 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) covered about 49 percent of the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) $94 billion retiree health benefit liability at fiscal year-end 2012. USPS's deteriorating financial outlook, however, will make it difficult to continue the current prefunding schedule in the short term, and possibly to fully fund the remaining $48 billion unfunded liability over the remaining 44 years of the schedule on which the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) was based. The liability covers the projected benefits for about 471,000 current postal retirees and a portion of the projected benefits for about 528,000 current employees; it does not cover employees not yet hired. Under PAEA, USPS is responsible for contributing an additional $33.9 billion to the PSRHBF by fiscal year 2017, including the $11.1 billion USPS has defaulted on over the past 2 years. PAEA also requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to calculate the remaining unfunded liability in 2017 and develop an initial 40-year amortization payment schedule. USPS, however, projects further declines in mail volume and revenues that may continue to limit its ability to prefund the remaining retiree health benefit liability. GAO's analysis of maintaining current law requirements compared to five alternative approaches showed differing impacts on USPS's future annual payments and unfunded liabilities. For example, three of the approaches--1) the Administration's Approach, 2) Senate Bill (S. 1789) and 3) "Pay-as-You-Go" (no prefunding)--would reduce USPS's annual payments in the short term, thereby easing its immediate cash flow problems and financial losses. However, these approaches would increase USPS's unfunded liability, sometimes substantially, and require larger payments later. Deferring funding could increase costs for future ratepayers and increase the possibility that USPS may not be able to pay for some or all of its liability. Conversely, a fourth approach--the House Bill (H.R. 2309)--and the current law requirement would reduce USPS's unfunded liabilities more aggressively but may result in significantly higher USPS financial losses in the near future. If USPS stopped prefunding and let the existing fund grow with interest, the unfunded liability is projected to significantly increase. Under a fifth approach, if USPS stopped prefunding and used the existing fund to pay current and future premiums, the fund is projected to be exhausted by 2026. Private sector, state, local, and other federal entities are not required to prefund these benefits, though some do so to a limited extent, and most are required to recognize the future costs in their financial reporting. GAO identified several key considerations including: (1) the rationale and consequences of prefunding such benefits; (2) trade-offs affecting USPS's financial condition, such as sizes of the annual payments and unfunded liability; (3) fixed versus actuarially determined payments; (4) targeted funding levels; and (5) assumption criteria. USPS is intended to be a self-sustaining entity funded almost entirely by postal ratepayers, but its financial losses are challenging its sustainability. GAO has testified that USPS should prefund its retiree health benefit liabilities to the maximum extent that its finances permit, but none of the funding approaches may be viable unless USPS has the ability to make the payments. USPS's default on its last two required PSRHBF payments and its inability to borrow further make the need for a comprehensive package of actions to achieve sustainable financial viability even more urgent.
Download or read book Retirement Security written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Financial Services. Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefits written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Accounting standards require governments to account for the costs of other postemployment benefits (OPEB)--the largest of which is typically retiree health benefits--when an employee earns the benefit. As such, governments are reporting their OPEB liabilities--the amount of the obligation to employees who have earned OPEB. As state and local governments have historically not funded retiree health benefits when the benefits are earned, much of their OPEB liability may be unfunded. Amid fiscal pressures facing governments, this has raised concerns about the actions the governments can take to address their OPEB liabilities. GAO was asked to provide information on governments' retiree health liabilities. GAO described (1) what has been reported in state and local governments' comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFR) regarding OPEB liabilities, (2) actions state and local governments have taken to address retiree health liabilities, and (3) the overall fiscal pressures these governments face. GAO reviewed the CAFRs for 50 states and the 39 local governments with at least $2 billion in total revenue. GAO also reviewed the actions taken to address retiree health liabilities by 10 state and local governments, selected based on geography and variation in approaches to address their liability. Finally, GAO simulated the fiscal outlook for the state and local sector and projected health care costs for state and local retirees.
Download or read book Strengthening Financial Position of Employees Life Insurance Fund written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. Subcommittee on Retirement, Insurance, and Health Benefits and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considers H.R. 6434, to strengthen Employees' Life Insurance Fund, established by Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act of 1954, by raising the premium rate and increasing government contribution to cover added expense.
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.
