Maryland – 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 Maryland. More applications are being approved each day.
- Affiliated Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Maryland
- Allegany Community College
- Allegany County
- American Institute of Physics, Inc.
- American Postal Workers Union Health Plan
- Anne Arundel Community College
- Anne Arundel County
- Anne Arundel County Public Library
- Anne Arundel County Public Schools
- AREVA NC Inc.
- ARINC Incorporated
- Asbestos Workers Local 24 Medical Trust
- Asbestos Workers Union Local 42 Welfare Fund
- Bakery & Confectionery Union & Industry Intl Health Benefits Fund
- Bakery and Sales Drivers Local Union 33 Industry Welfare Fund
- Baltimore County Maryland
- Beverage & Brewery Drivers Local 67 Health & Welfare Fund
- Board of Education of Baltimore County
- Board of Education of Caroline County
- Board of Education of Carroll County
- Board of Education of Queen Anne's County
- Board of Education of Wicomico County
- Board of Education Prince George's County*
- Board of Trustees of Seafarers Health and Benefits
- Bricklayers Local 1 of MD, VA and DC Health & Welfare Fund
- Calvert Count Public Schools
- Calvert County Government
- CareFirst, Inc.
- Cecil County Public Schools
- City of Gaithersburg*
- City of Hagerstown
- City of Salisbury, Maryland
- Community College of Baltimore County
- Constellation Energy Group, Inc.
- Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, LLC
- Construction Workers Trust Fund
- Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations
- County Commissioners for St. Mary's County, MD
- County Commissioners of Carroll County Maryland
- County Commissioners of Charles County, Maryland
- County Commissioners of Frederick Co.
- Dorchester County Board of Education
- Electrical Welfare Trust Fund
- Emergency Medicine Associates, P.A., P.C.
- Food Employers Labor Relations Association & UFCW Health&Welfare
- Frederick Community College
- Frederick County Public Schools
- Garrett County Board of Education
- GEA North America, INC.
- Goucher College
- Hagerstown Teamsters and Motor Carriers Health and Welfare fund
- Harford County Public Schools
- Harford County, Maryland
- Heating, Piping, and Refrigeration Medical Fund
- Howard County Maryland
- Howard County Superintendent of Schools
- I.A.T.S.E. Local 22 Welfare Fund
- International Union of Operating Engineers & Pipe
- Iron Workers Local No. 568 Health and Welfare Plan
- Iron Workers Trust Fund Local No. 5 Washington, DC
- Ironworkers Local No. 16 Health Fund
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kent County Public Schools
- Laborers' District Council Health and Welfare Trust Fund No 2
- Laborers International Union of North America*
- Locke Insulators, Inc.
- Lockheed Martin Corporation
- Maryland Electrical Industry Health Fund
- Maryland Transit Administration
- Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
- Masters, Mates & Pilots Health & Benefit Plan
- Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
- Mayor and City Council/Town of Ocean City
- McCormick & Company, Inc.
- McDaniel College
- MEBA Medical & Benefits Plan
- Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters Health Trust Fund
- Montgomery College
- Montgomery County Maryland Government
- MRA Systems, Inc.
- National Automatic Sprinkler Industry Welfare Fund Joint Board of Trustees
- National Automatic Sprinkler Metal Trades Welfare
- Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC
- Operating Engineers Local 37 Health & Welfare Fund
- Operating Engineers Local 99 Health & Welfare Fund
- Operating Engineers Local No. 77 Trust Fund of Was
- Orthopaedic Associates of Grand Rapids, PC
- Painters Trust Fund of Washington, DC and Vicinity
- Peninsula Regional Medical Center
- Plumbers & Pipefitters Medical Fund
- Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 486 Medical Fund
- Pressman Welfare Fund
- Prince George's County Government
- Queen Anne's County, Maryland
- Rodman Local Union 201 Welfare Fund
- Seafarers Officers and Employees Welfare Plan
- Sheet Metal Workers Local 100
- Sheet Metal Workers Local 100 (Baltimore area) Health & Welfare Fund
- Somerset County Public Schools
- St. Mary's County Board of Education
- Talbot County Board of Education
- Teamsters Local 922 - Employers Health Trust
- The Baltimore Life Insurance Company
- The City of Frederick
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC
- The State of Maryland
- Transit Employees' Health & Welfare Fund
- Truck Drivers & Helpers Local 355 Health & Welfare Fund
- United Association of JAPPI
- United Food and Commercial Workers Unions and Participating Employe
- United States Enrichment Corporation
- W.R. Grace & Co.- Conn
- Washington County Commissioners of Washington
- Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
- Western Maryland Health Systems
- Wicomico County, Maryland
*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.