3M to Dump Its Retirees on the Individual Market
Starting in 2015, 3M retirees too young to qualify for Medicare will receive financial support through what the company called a “health reimbursement arrangement” and won’t be able to enroll in the company’s group insurance plan. The company described that as an account retirees can use to purchase individual insurance through exchanges that the health law will create in 2014.
Full article on how 3M is dropping health insurance coverage for its retirees.
This is only the beginning.
About 125 million people will theoretically qualify for subsidies in the Health Insurance Exchange based on income alone. However, the CBO only estimates 25 million people will actually get subsidized coverage in the Exchange — the remainder will get coverage through their employer. Commonsense (and economics) suggest that if there is a subsidy available for the remaining 100 million people, employers will drop coverage whenever they can and pay slightly higher wages. It’s a win-win for everyone except taxpayers (workers get bigger subsidy, higher pay; while the employer has lower costs).
I agree with Ken. I think most people with employer sponsored post retirement coverage will lose their plans.
The Democratic Party’s Plan to Create a Single Payer System
Step 1: Create incentives for employers to drop workers from their plans. (check)
Step 2: Drive down reimbursement rates and force many providers out of business. (check)
Step 3: Declare a state of emergency and let eveyone into Medicare. (happening soon?)
Meanwhile, it appears that regular stand-alone HRAs are going away (unless the sponsoring health plan receives a waiver).
I think Virginia may have figured this out.
Didn’t NCPA predicts something like this would happen?
Nah, the plan is to put everyone into Medicaid. Medicare is expensive and Medicaid offers better rationing devices, such as state formularies and state plans that require everyone in Medicaid to join a particular HMO run by a state contractor.
I find it a shame that corporations are still trying to absorb tax dollars at every turn. Where is the responsibility to those who created the profit and wealth that the CEO’s of the world enjoy? More people thrown on the trashbin of history thanks to corporate america.
How much will 3M’s profits increase over this direct gorvnment subsidy?
Look out a tsunami is coming.
Instead of switching them to an HRA, 3M should switch to LyfeBank accounts which allow the retirees to pool the funds with family members or part time jobs to buy health insurance and pay for medical expenses, all with pretax dollars. A brief visit to LyfeBank.com will explain this process.