Detroit Looks to Health Law to Ease Costs
As Detroit enters the federal bankruptcy process, the city is proposing a
controversial plan for paring some of the $5.7 billion it owes in
retiree health costs: pushing many of those too young to qualify for
Medicare out of city-run coverage and into the new insurance markets
that will soon be operating under the Obama health care law.
“There’s fear and panic,” said Michael Underwood, an ailing Chicago Police Department retiree.
Officials say the plan would be part of a broader effort to save Detroit
tens of millions of dollars in health costs each year, a major element
in a restructuring package that must be approved by a bankruptcy judge.
It is being watched closely by municipal leaders around the nation, many
of whom complain of mounting, unsustainable prices for the health care
promised to retired city workers.
Similar proposals that could shift public sector retirees into the new
insurance markets, called exchanges, are already being planned or
contemplated in places like Chicago; Sheboygan County, Wis.; and
Stockton, Calif. While large employers that eliminate health benefits
for full-time workers can be penalized under the health care law,
retirees are a different matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment