[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 12 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF BROKEN PROMISES RETIREE HEALTH LEGISLATION

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                         HON. GERALD D. KLECZKA

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 10, 2000

  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Broken Promises 
Retiree Health Act. This legislation would help retirees obtain health 
insurance if their coverage is canceled and would ensure that retirees 
are given fair warning before their employers terminate their health 
coverage.
  The need for this legislation is clear. Far too many companies are 
breaking their promises to retired workers by eliminating retiree 
health benefits. A recent report by Mercer/Foster-Higgins found that in 
1999, only 35 percent of large employers offered health benefits to 
their early retirees. This is a decline of six percent in the past five 
years alone. As a result, thousands of retirees have been stranded 
without health care--health care they were promised, and health care 
they earned through their long years of service.
  This national trend hit home in my district on August 5, 1996 when 
the Pabst Brewing Company announced that they were eliminating the 
health benefits plans for almost 750 retirees and their families.
  Seniors in my district and throughout the country rely on their 
employers' commitment to provide health insurance in their golden 
years. When a company revokes that coverage, many older Americans are 
trapped in the limbo between employee health benefits and Medicare 
coverage. Retirees should not be faced with the vulnerability of being 
uninsured when irresponsible employers break their promise to provide 
retiree health coverage.
  The legislation I am introducing today would establish a critical 
safety-net for these retirees. Through this bill, retirees who were 
over the age of 55 when their health benefits were terminated can 
choose between two new health coverage options. First, for a monthly 
premium of approximately $400 per month, retirees would be allowed to 
buy into the Medicare program. Or, if the employer is continuing to 
offer health benefits to its current employees, retirees could choose 
to buy the same health coverage for themselves and their families that 
the company offers current employees. Both options ensure that health 
coverage would be available to retirees until they turn 65 and become 
eligible for Medicare.
  In addition, this legislation would require employers to give 6 
months notice to retirees of any reduction in their health benefits and 
would also require the Labor Department to certify that these changes 
meet the requirements of the collective bargaining agreement.
  Legislation cannot heal the pain of employer betrayal after a 
lifetime of service, but it can renew the promise of retiree health 
coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, we must act now. I ask my colleagues to show their 
support for retired workers and their families by cosponsoring this 
bill.

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