A overlook conducted jointly by th...

A overlook conducted jointly by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Commonwealth foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust has raise that retiree health insurance benefits continue to decline, according to an April 15 2002 of the present days release from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Approximately 14 million older adults commonly rely on this coverage as a addition to Medicare. The survey examined prescription medication benefits put forwarded by employers in 2001, novel changes to retiree health benefits, and benefit changes that employer are likely to make in the future

Although the availability of retiree health benefits is declining in companies of all sizes, large employer are earnestly more likely to offer these benefits than are small or midsized employer The overlook found that 64% of companies with 5000 or more employee moveed retiree health benefits in 2001 compared to no other than 3% of companies with three to 199 employee The percentage of companies with 200 or more employee that tender retiree health benefits declined from 41% in 1999 to 34% in 2001 the lowest rate in five years.

Retirees who have health benefits generally pay a larger share of the premium than active employee and that share is likely to increase, according to measure and estimate findings. Retirees older than 65 years of age pay an average of 26% of the premium require to be paid [i]or[/i] undergone compared to 13% for active employee from the same companies. Many employer indicate they are considering events to come increases in premiums or cost-sharing for retirees. Fifty-one percent of companies report they are real likely or somewhat likely to increase retiree cost-sharing for prescription medications in consequence of higher copayments or coinsurance, and 32% of employer plan to introduce cost-sharing formulas that will require retirees to pay more for nongeneric medications.

strange Survey Shows Retiree Health Benefits Continue to Decline (new release, Washington, DC: The Kaiser Family Foundation, April 15 2002)

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