Retiree Health Plans in the Public Sector: Is There a Funding Crisis?

While retiree health plans are a dying benefit in the private sector, all US states and many local governments extend health insurance coverage to their retired employees. This book is the first to thoroughly examine public sector health insurance plans. Retiree Health Plans in the Public Sector provides a detailed description of the current plans offered and compares how they vary across states. Health insurance is an important component of compensation in the public sector as it helps governments attract and retain quality workers and encourages timely retirement for career employees. Rapidly rising medical costs, an aging labor force, and an increasing number of retirees have dramatically increased the cost of providing this benefit. A central theme of this analysis is a presentation of the actuarial accrued liabilities, the unfunded liabilities and the annual required contribution of the employers based on the actuarial statements for retiree health plans. The authors also investigate why some states face major funding problems while the costs of other states' plans are much more manageable. Extensively researched and well-suited for classroom and professional use alike, academics in the fields of economics and public policy will find this an unmatched resource. So too will policymakers, economists, legislators, public sector union leaders and those invested in public sector healthcare.

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1. Retirement Benefits in the Public Sector: The Role of Retiree Health Plans 2. The Economics of Retiree Health Insurance Benefits 3. Descriptions of State Retiree Health Plans 4. Funding and Liabilities of State Retiree Health Plans 5. Explaining the Differences in Financial Status of State Retiree Health Plans 6. Retiree Health Plans for Public School Teachers 7. The Future of Public Sector Retiree Health Insurance References Index

About the Author :
Robert L. Clark, Professor of Economics and Professor of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, North Carolina State University, US and Melinda Sandler Morrill, Research Assistant Professor of Economics, North Carolina State University, US

Review :
‘This book is very timely as all governments in the United States have experienced significant financial strains in the past few years and public officials are trying to address the issue in many different ways. . . This book should be read by all who have any responsibility for developing and implementing public retiree health plans.’