Utah – Early Retiree Reinsurance Program
Rising health care costs have made it difficult for employers to provide quality, affordable health insurance for workers and retirees while also remaining competitive in the global marketplace. The percentage of large firms providing workers with retiree health coverage has dropped from 66 percent in 1988 to 29 percent in 2009.1 Health insurance premiums for older Americans are over four times more expensive than they are for young adults,2 and the deductible these enrollees pay is, on average, almost four times that for a typical employer-sponsored insurance plan.3
The Affordable Care Act creates a new program called the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program to help address this challenge that employers and older employees are facing. The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program provides $5 billion in financial assistance to employers and unions to help them maintain coverage for early retirees age 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare.
Businesses, other employers, and unions that are accepted into the program will receive reimbursement for medical claims for early retirees and their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents. Savings can be used to reduce employer health care costs, provide premium relief to workers and families, or both. Applicants who are approved into the program receive reinsurance for the claims of high-cost retirees and their families (80 percent of the costs from $15,000 to $90,000). The program ends on January 1, 2014 when State health insurance Exchanges are up and running.
HHS has approved the following sponsors from Utah. More applications are being approved each day.
- Alpine School District
- Autoliv ASP, Inc.
- Board of Education Salt Lake City Schools
- Boart Longyear Company
- Box Elder County School District
- County of Cache School District
- County of Washington
- Credit Unions Chartered on the Utah Power Credit Union
- Davis School District
- Eighth District Electrical Benefit Fund
- Emery County School District
- EnviroTech Pumpsystems, Inc.
- Granite Federal Credit Union
- Granite School District
- Intermountain Healthcare, Inc.
- Intermountain United Food & Commercial Workers & Food Industry
- Iron County School District*
- Ironworkers Intermountain Health and Welfare Trust
- Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation, LLC
- Logan School District
- Merit Medical
- Millard School District
- Mountain Medical Physician Specialists, PC
- North Sanpete School District
- Provo City
- Questar Corporation
- Rio Tinto America, INC.
- Salt Lake Community College
- Sandy City Corporation
- SOS Staffing Services, Inc.*
- South Sanpete School District
- South Summit School District
- SouthWest Multi-Craft Health & Welfare Trust Fund
- Union Pacific Railroad Employes Health Systems
- United Food & Commercial Union & Retail Food Employers Benefit Fund
- United Steelworkers of America
- University of Utah
- US Borax Inc.
- Utah County Government
- Utah Laborers'Health & Welfare Trust fund
- Utah Pipe Trades Welfare Trust Fund
- Utah Public Employees Health Program Trust
- Utah Sheet Metal Welfare Fund
- Utah State University
- Valley Mental Health
- Washington County School District
- Weber County School District
- Weber School District
*New program participants as of May 24, 2011. List to be updated monthly.
[1] Kaiser / HRET. Employer Health Benefits: 2009 Survey.
[2] Center for Policy and Research. Individual Health Insurance 2009.
[3] Kaiser Family Foundation. 2010. Survey of People Who Purchase Their Own Insurance.