Skip Navigation
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

States-EERP

Massachusetts – 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 Massachusetts. More applications are being approved each day.

  • Acton Health Insurance Trust
  • Acushnet Company
  • Allegro MicroSystems, Inc.
  • Berkshire Bank
  • Berkshire Health Group ["BHG"]
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • Blue Cross & Blue Shield of MA, Inc.
  • Boston Plasterers' & Cement Masons' Local 534 Health & Welfare Fund
  • Boston Scientific Corporation
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
  • Boston University
  • Brittany Dyeing & Printing Corp.
  • Cabot Corporation
  • Cambridge Public Health Commission (dba Cambridge
  • Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
  • Cape Cod Healthcare*
  • Cape Cod Municipal Health Group ["CCMHG"]
  • Caritas Christi
  • Cell Signaling Technology Inc.
  • City of Attleboro
  • City of Beverly
  • City of Boston
  • City of Brockton
  • City of Cambridge, MA
  • City of Chicopee, Massachusetts
  • City of Everett
  • City of Fall River
  • City of Fitchburg
  • City of Gardner
  • City of Gloucester
  • City of Haverhill
  • City of Holyoke
  • City of Leominster
  • City of Lowell
  • City of Malden
  • City of Marlborough
  • City of Medford
  • City of New Bedford
  • City of Northampton
  • City of Peabody
  • City of Revere
  • City of Somerville
  • City of Westfield
  • City of Worcester
  • Commonwealth of Massachusetts - Main Account
  • Cooley Dickinson Healthcare Corporations*
  • County of Norfolk
  • Crane & Co., Inc.
  • Dudley-Charlton Regional School District
  • EMC Corporation
  • Emerson College
  • Friendly Ice Cream Corporation
  • Gorton's Inc.
  • Gr. New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High
  • Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District
  • Hampshire Council of Governments
  • Health and Welfare Trust Fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local Union No 877
  • Hollingsworth & Vose
  • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
  • HP Hood LLC
  • International Union of Operating Engineers Local 98 Health and Welfare Fund
  • Ironworkers District Council of New England Health & Welfare Fund
  • ISO New England Inc.
  • IUOE Local 4 Health & Welfare Fund
  • John Hancock Life Insurance Co. (U.S.A.)
  • Lahey Clinic Foundation INC
  • Liberty Mutual Group Inc
  • Local 103, IBEW Health Benefit Plan
  • Loomis, Sayles & Company
  • Martignetti Corp.
  • Massachusetts Bankers Association Group Insurance
  • Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company, LLC
  • Massachusetts Bay Health Care Trust Fund
  • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
  • Massachusetts Bricklayers and Masons
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Massachusetts Laborers' Health and Welfare Fund
  • Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
  • Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
  • Massachusetts Port Authority*
  • Massachusetts Teachers Association
  • Mayflower Municipal Health Group (MMHG)
  • Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Company
  • MIB Group, Inc.
  • MIIAA Health Benefits TR
  • Minuteman Nashoba Health Group 'MNHG'
  • MOntachusett Reg. Voc. Tech. School District
  • New England Biolabs, Inc.
  • New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund
  • New England Life Insurance Company
  • New England Sinai Hospital
  • Newbury Corporation
  • Northbridge Town Of*
  • Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School District
  • Northeastern University
  • NSTAR
  • Nuance Communications, Inc.
  • Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.
  • OneBeacon Insurance Company
  • Painters District Council No. 35 Health Benefits F
  • Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
  • Philips Electronics North America Corporation
  • Plumbers Union 12-Welfare Fund Board of Trustees
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College
  • PRTM Management Consultants, Inc.
  • Putnam Investments, LLC
  • Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District
  • Raytheon Company
  • Reed Elsevier Inc
  • Regional Transit Authority Transit Services Inc
  • Roofers Local Union #33 Insurance Fund
  • S.D. Warren Company*
  • SABIC Innovative Plastics US LLC
  • Scantic Valley Regional Health Trust [SVRHT]
  • Sheet Metal Workers Local #63 Health and Welfare Fund
  • Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 Insurance Fund
  • Southeastern Massachusetts Health Group (SMHG)
  • Springfield Area Transit Company, Inc.
  • Staples, Inc.
  • State Street Corporation
  • Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
  • Sun Life Financial (U.S.) Services Company Inc.
  • Tantasqua Regional School District
  • Teamsters Local 170 Health & Welfare Fund
  • Teamsters Local 404 Health Services & Insurance Plan
  • Teamsters Union 25 Health Services & Insurance Plan
  • Teradyne, Inc.
  • The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
  • The City of Newton
  • The Hanover Insurance Company
  • The L.S. Starrett Co.
  • The Town of Dudley Massachusetts
  • Town of Agawam
  • Town of Amherst
  • Town of Andover, MA
  • Town of Arlington
  • Town of Auburn
  • Town of Bedford
  • Town of Bellingham
  • Town of Belmont
  • Town of Billerica Massachusetts
  • Town of Bourne
  • Town of Braintree
  • Town of Burlington
  • Town of Canton
  • Town of Carver
  • Town of Charlton
  • Town of Dartmouth
  • Town of Dracut
  • Town of Duxbury
  • Town of Fairhaven
  • Town of Foxborough
  • Town of Framingham
  • Town of Greenfield
  • Town of Holden
  • Town of Hudson
  • Town of Lexington
  • Town of Lincoln
  • Town of Mattapoisett
  • Town of Milford
  • Town of Millbury
  • Town of Milton
  • Town of Nantucket
  • Town of North Andover
  • Town of Oxford
  • Town of Plymouth
  • Town of Sharon
  • Town of Somerset
  • Town of Stoughton
  • Town of Sudbury Accounting
  • Town of Tewksbury
  • Town of Uxbridge
  • Town of Wareham
  • Town of Webster
  • Town of West Boylston
  • Town of West Springfield
  • Town of Westborough
  • Town of Winchendon
  • Tufts Medical Center
  • United Electric Controls Company
  • Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, inc.
  • Waltham City Of*
  • Waters Corporation*
  • Welch Foods Inc, A Cooperative
  • Wellesley College
  • West Suburban Health Group
  • Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
  • Williams College
  • Wyman-Gordon Company

[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.

Back to Map