Employers are searching for alternative retiree healthcare benefit options
Almost 40% of employers made changes to their retiree healthcare benefits in the last three years, while another 63% plan to in the next three years, the Willis Towers Watson survey found. Some are looking to replace their traditional group plan offerings with individual insurance through a private marketplace.
Rising Employer Health Care Costs May Boost Self-Insured Plans
Increasing health care costs are driving U.S. employers to search for alternative methods to provide health care benefits to retirees, new research shows. The WTW Retirement Medical survey found 50% of employers are concerned about rising costs and are targeting private insurance marketplaces to substitute for group plans.
Think before ditching retiree healthcare benefits
The cost of traditional retiree healthcare coverage is about $1,000 monthly for those not yet eligible for Medicare, according to Trevis Parson, chief actuary at WTW. Before taking budget axes to retiree medical benefits, employers should consider alternative offerings and the potential impact of such benefit cuts on workforce planning initiatives.
Medicare Marketplaces: A solution for reducing retiree health care costs, hiding in plain sight
Retirement without health care coverage is not secure. Indeed, lack of retiree health care coverage is often cited as a reason for not retiring. Yet the number of employers providing retiree health care continues to decline…
Tighter Municipal Budgets Shrink Retiree Health Benefits
America’s retired workers are getting squeezed on their health care. Cities and states can’t afford to keep the same medical benefits they promised government retirees. For all 50 states combined, revenue declines for 2020 and 2021 could reach…
How One City Contained Retiree Health Care Costs
Public sector organizations have struggled for decades to manage growing economic burdens related to other postemployment benefits (OPEB) liabilities. Drastically cutting retiree health care benefits has been a common response.
An Option for States and Localities Seeking to Save on Retiree Health Care Costs
Some state and local governments are achieving savings on retiree health care costs by turning to what are known as individual Medicare marketplaces as an option for providing…
Public Sector Retiree Health Care via Individual Medicare Marketplaces
As many state and local governments face inadequate funding levels for retiree health care obligations, a new report offers policymakers with a guide to individual Medicare…
How Memphis Reduced Its OPEB Liability By $319M and Gave Retirees Greater Affordability and Choice
This article details how the City of Memphis was able to reduce its OPEB liability by $319 million and give retirees greater affordability and…
