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Article: Large employers face hard choices on retiree health benefits
- Article from:
- Aging Today
- Article date:
- September 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Society on Aging Sep/Oct 2003. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Providing health benefits for retired workers is an increasingly difficult burden for employers. The cost of providing coverage-often comprehensive health benefits for early retirees and supplemental policies for those on Medicare-jumped sharply in 2002, and the situation is certain to get worse in the years ahead.
The near-term challenge for employers is balancing the financial needs of their organizations while maintaining vital benefit programs for retirees and spouses. The alternative to acting now is being forced to undertake more drastic changes down the road or abandon retiree health benefits altogether. Employers need no crystal ball to see where these trends are leading. They need ...