A growing number of workers realize that they will not get retiree health care from their employer, according to a report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Workers are still more likely to expect retiree health benefits than they are to get these benefits, but the expectations gap is closing.
By 2010, 32% of workers expected retiree health benefits while only 25% of early retirees and 16% of Medicare-eligible retirees had them. Most employers that have continued to offer retiree health benefits have raised premiums that retirees are required to pay, tightened eligibility, limited or reduce benefits, or enacted some combination of these changes. Increasing retiree contributions tops the list of likely changes among employers that still offer the benefit: 43% of employers say they are very likely to increase the retirees’ portion of premiums next year while 35% are somewhat likely to do so. To get the full report, visit http://www.ebri.org/pdf/PR992.23Oct12.RetHlth.pdf.
