Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Tweet[IWS] Hewitt: 4 in 5 Large Firms Keep Retiree Drug Coverage & accept Medicare Subsidies in 2006 [7 December 2005]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Hewitt
7 December 2005
Four in Five Large Firms to Maintain Retiree Drug Coverage and Accept Medicare Subsidies in 2006, But are Less Certain about Future Strategy
Survey of Large Businesses Finds Total Retiree Health Costs Rose 10% This Year
http://was4.hewitt.com/hewitt/resource/newsroom/pressrel/2005/12-07-05.htm
WASHINGTON -- Four in five businesses (79%) that now provide retiree health benefits will accept government subsidies for continuing to provide retiree drug coverage at least as good as Medicare's coverage when the new drug benefit starts in 2006, according to a new survey of 300 of the nation's largest private-sector employers conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates.
Another 10% say that they will provide some drug coverage to supplement the new Medicare benefit, and 9% say that they plan to stop offering drug coverage to Medicare-eligible retirees.
Firms accepting the retiree drug subsidy in 2006 are less certain about whether they will continue to take this approach in future years. Among those firms that will accept the subsidy in 2006, about four in five (82%) say that they are "very" or "somewhat" likely to accept the subsidy again in 2007. Looking ahead to 2010, only half (50%) say they are likely to maintain coverage and accept the subsidy, while 22% say they are unlikely to do so, and 28% say they do not know.
AND MORE....
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky *
Director, IWS News Bureau *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor *
New York, NY 10016 *
*
Telephone: (607) 255-2703 *
Fax: (607) 255-9641 *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu *
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10016
________________________________________________________________________
Hewitt
7 December 2005
Four in Five Large Firms to Maintain Retiree Drug Coverage and Accept Medicare Subsidies in 2006, But are Less Certain about Future Strategy
Survey of Large Businesses Finds Total Retiree Health Costs Rose 10% This Year
http://was4.hewitt.com/hewitt/resource/newsroom/pressrel/2005/12-07-05.htm
WASHINGTON -- Four in five businesses (79%) that now provide retiree health benefits will accept government subsidies for continuing to provide retiree drug coverage at least as good as Medicare's coverage when the new drug benefit starts in 2006, according to a new survey of 300 of the nation's largest private-sector employers conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates.
Another 10% say that they will provide some drug coverage to supplement the new Medicare benefit, and 9% say that they plan to stop offering drug coverage to Medicare-eligible retirees.
Firms accepting the retiree drug subsidy in 2006 are less certain about whether they will continue to take this approach in future years. Among those firms that will accept the subsidy in 2006, about four in five (82%) say that they are "very" or "somewhat" likely to accept the subsidy again in 2007. Looking ahead to 2010, only half (50%) say they are likely to maintain coverage and accept the subsidy, while 22% say they are unlikely to do so, and 28% say they do not know.
AND MORE....
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 9:13 AM
