Colorado – 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 Colorado. More applications are being approved each day.
- Agrium U.S. Inc.
- Alenco, Inc.
- American Green Cross Net
- Arizona Pipe Trades Health and Welfare Trust Fund
- Ball Corporation
- Basin Resources, Inc
- Board of Trustees - Pipe Industry Health and Welfare Fund of Colorado
- Board of Trustees of the Colorado Finishing Trades Health and Welfare
- Board of Water Commissioners
- Carpenters & Millwrights Health Benefit Trust Fund
- CEBT Board of Trustees
- CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC
- Chevron Mining Inc.
- City of Colorado Springs
- City of Grand Junction
- City of Lakewood
- City of Longmont
- Colorado Permanente Medical Group, P.C.
- Colorado Sheet Metal Workers' Local 9 Family Health Plan
- COMPOSITIOIN ROOFERS UNION LOCAL 30 COMBINED HEALTH AND WELFARE
- County of Adams,Colorado 84-6000732
- County of Arapahoe
- County of El Paso
- County of Weld Board of County Commissioners
- DCP Midstream, LP*
- Denver Theatrical Stage Employees Union Local No. 7 Health and Welfare Trust
- Gates Corporation
- Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company
- H+L Architecture
- Hermes Consolidated, Inc.
- I.A.T.S.E. Local 33 Health & Welfare Plan
- IHS Inc.
- JA Worldwide
- Johns Manville Corporation
- Operating Engineers Health and Welfare Trust Fund for Colorado
- Public Employees' Retirement Association of Colorado
- Qwest Communications International Inc.
- Rio Grande Employees Hospital Association
- Rocky Mountain UFCW Unions and Employers Health Benefit Plan
- SourceGas LLC
- Trustees, Co Laborers H&W Fund
- United Launch Alliance, LLC
- University of Colorado
- University of Colorado Health and Welfare Trust
- West Metro Firefighters Health Benefit Trust
- Westmoreland Coal Company
- Woodward Governor Company
*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.