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MEDIA BRIEFING
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| WHO: | James A. Klein, president, American Benefits Council Paul Dennett, senior vice president, health care reform |
| WHAT: | Media Briefing Conference Call On Wednesday, March 17 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the American Benefits Council will unveil a report, prepared by a former White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official, that illustrates how a proposed revenue provision within the health care reform legislation will threaten existing retiree health programs. The Council will describe the provision and the very serious consequences of its enactment for employers, retirees and the federal budget.
The provision, contained in both the House of Representatives and Senate health care bills, would reverse a carefully negotiated element of the Medicare Modernization Act by reducing allowable deductions for the 28 percent subsidy that employers receive for providing drug coverage for retirees. Congress enacted the policy in 2003 to allow employers to maintain such coverage and to save the government money on Medicare expenditures. The report, Assessing the Coverage and Budgetary Implications of Legislation Modifying the Deductibility of Retiree Drug Spending Eligible for Subsidies [embargoed copy available below], affirms what the Council has been arguing for months: as more retirees are moved from employer plans to Medicare Part D, government outlays will increase, and the shift from employer retiree drug subsidy programs to Medicare Part D is likely to be significant. The report was commissioned by the Council and prepared by Donald W. Moran, president of the Moran Company and former Executive Associate Director for Budget and Legislation at OMB. On the day health care legislation is signed into law, if this tax is allowed to stand, employer sponsors of retiree prescription drug coverage will face an immediate hit on their income statements and balance sheets. Companies will be forced to reconsider offering this valuable coverage. Millions of beneficiaries will likely be shifted to the Medicare Part D program, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars. Everyone would lose under this ill-advised provision, said Council President James A. Klein.
An embargoed copy of the report is available here: |
| WHERE: | The briefing will be held via conference call. Please note that the briefing is not at the Council offices. For call-in information, please RSVP using the link below. |
| WHEN: | 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. |
| CONTACT: | For more information, or to arrange a separate interview with Council staff, please contact Jason Hammersla, Council director of communications, at jhammersla@abcstaff.org or by phone at 202-289-6700 (office) or (202) 253-5458 (cell).
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The American Benefits Council is the national trade association for companies concerned about federal legislation and regulations affecting all aspects of the employee benefits system. The Council's members represent the entire spectrum of the private employee benefits community and either sponsor directly or administer retirement and health plans covering more than 100 million Americans.
