05.04.10
“Over the past two decades, the share of large firms offering retiree health coverage has dropped by half, subjecting a growing number of early retirees to price-gouging by insurance companies in the individual market, if they can get coverage at all. This group often faces the highest costs for obtaining coverage because they are more likely to have a preexisting or chronic medical condition. This program, combined with the creation of the High Risk Pool Program, will give older Americans and those with a preexisting conditions greater access to quality, affordable coverage until additional reforms come into effect in 2014.
“This new benefit, along with the pledge by insurance companies to end rescissions and allow young people to stay on their parents plans through age 26, is another example of how health insurance reforms are already starting to improve the health security and quality of life of American families.”
Chair Miller Statement on Announcement of Early Retiree Reinsurance Program Eligibility
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued a statement today on the announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that employers will be able to take advantage of a program to help them maintain early retiree health insurance coverage on June 1, weeks ahead of schedule. The $5 billion temporary program, created as part of the new health insurance reform law, will provide an important backstop for employers who are facing skyrocketing costs for covering early retirees age 55 and over who are not eligible for Medicare. “The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program will provide an important backstop for our nation’s employers who are struggling to cover early retirees because of rising health care costs. Historically, this coverage has been an essential source of health insurance for retired workers and was a common benefit among larger institutions. Unfortunately, these increasing costs have pressured many employers to drop promised coverage, leaving retirees to fend for themselves.“Over the past two decades, the share of large firms offering retiree health coverage has dropped by half, subjecting a growing number of early retirees to price-gouging by insurance companies in the individual market, if they can get coverage at all. This group often faces the highest costs for obtaining coverage because they are more likely to have a preexisting or chronic medical condition. This program, combined with the creation of the High Risk Pool Program, will give older Americans and those with a preexisting conditions greater access to quality, affordable coverage until additional reforms come into effect in 2014.
“This new benefit, along with the pledge by insurance companies to end rescissions and allow young people to stay on their parents plans through age 26, is another example of how health insurance reforms are already starting to improve the health security and quality of life of American families.”
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