How the health care sausage-legislation was made & passed: Do you see you company here? Mine isn't. -- About 2,000 Employers to Draw Health Funds
From The Wall Street Journal:
Almost 2,000 employers and unions will be eligible to submit retirees' medical bills for reimbursement by a $5 billion federal fund, the Obama administration will disclose Tuesday, suggesting the fund will be spread widely but thinly.
General Motors Co., General Electric Co., Procter & Gamble Co., PepsiCo Inc., Alcoa Inc., Intel Corp., and Pfizer Inc. are among the large corporations that the White House will say can submit retirees' health bills for reimbursement.
The list includes the United Auto Workers union, state and local governments and universities. Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, was approved to participate in the program.
The retiree-health money was one of the sweeteners for corporations and unions in the health care bill. Early retirees incur some of the highest costs because they aren't covered by Medicare and tend to be sicker than younger workers.
Under the program, approved employers can tap into a federal fund that will reimburse up to 80% of certain health costs for retirees between the ages of 55 and 64, or those who don't yet qualify for Medicare.
Medical, surgical, hospital and prescription-drug costs are eligible for reimbursement, and employers can use the money to help reduce co-payments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Not on the initial list was Verizon Communications Inc., one of the main backers of including the provision in the original law.
For employers, the fund will help offset a growing financial burden that has weighed on profits, particularly for manufacturers. It's not clear exactly how much each employer will get under the program, but many employers do not expect the funds will last as long as outlined under the law.
"It operates the same way as cash for clunkers," said James Klein, president of the Americans Benefits Council, which represents major employers. Like the car-buying subsidy, which was unexpectedly popular and soon ran out of money, Mr. Klein said companies generally expect that the $5 billion "wouldn't last to reimburse companies until 2014."
Almost 2,000 employers and unions will be eligible to submit retirees' medical bills for reimbursement by a $5 billion federal fund, the Obama administration will disclose Tuesday, suggesting the fund will be spread widely but thinly.
General Motors Co., General Electric Co., Procter & Gamble Co., PepsiCo Inc., Alcoa Inc., Intel Corp., and Pfizer Inc. are among the large corporations that the White House will say can submit retirees' health bills for reimbursement.
The list includes the United Auto Workers union, state and local governments and universities. Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, was approved to participate in the program.
The retiree-health money was one of the sweeteners for corporations and unions in the health care bill. Early retirees incur some of the highest costs because they aren't covered by Medicare and tend to be sicker than younger workers.
Under the program, approved employers can tap into a federal fund that will reimburse up to 80% of certain health costs for retirees between the ages of 55 and 64, or those who don't yet qualify for Medicare.
Medical, surgical, hospital and prescription-drug costs are eligible for reimbursement, and employers can use the money to help reduce co-payments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Not on the initial list was Verizon Communications Inc., one of the main backers of including the provision in the original law.
For employers, the fund will help offset a growing financial burden that has weighed on profits, particularly for manufacturers. It's not clear exactly how much each employer will get under the program, but many employers do not expect the funds will last as long as outlined under the law.
"It operates the same way as cash for clunkers," said James Klein, president of the Americans Benefits Council, which represents major employers. Like the car-buying subsidy, which was unexpectedly popular and soon ran out of money, Mr. Klein said companies generally expect that the $5 billion "wouldn't last to reimburse companies until 2014."
posted by Sid Cottingham | 5:27 AM
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