Related Articles

                 (continued)

Retirees Hard Hit

As hard as unions have been fighting to retain benefits for retirees, the bottom-line reality for businesses is that older Americans are much more likely to make frequent visits to doctors, take prescription drugs and require hospitalization.

"Its retirees who absorb the major cost of all of the plans and thats a factor everywhere," Pultar said. "Companies want retirees to pay more and more."

"Everything goes up in price
your doctors, your gasoline, your groceries,
your utility bills, even your home. One of these days you wont be able to
afford it."

Julian Otte,
Retired Local 551 member

Some employer-sponsored plans and multi-employer funds are cutting back or cutting out benefits for retirees completely, leaving them to fend for themselves until Medicare kicks in. Some members retire from jobs that have no coverage for retirees, forcing them to work until they are eligible for Medicare or spend precious savings or pensions on health care.

A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute found that 66 percent of large firms offered health care coverage to retirees in 1988; in 2002, it was down to 34 percent.

Wichita, Kansas Local 271 gives retirees the opportunity to be covered by its health and welfare fund but its $642 monthly price tag prohibits all but a few from participating. "They cant afford it," said Local 271 Business Manager James Davis. Of the locals 150 retirees, only 11 take advantage. The others try to get by on Medicare if they are 65 or older, Medicaid (if they qualify for the low-income program) or veterans hospitals (if theyve served in the armed forces), Davis said.

Retiring before the age of 65 is considered "early" from the perspective of Social Security and Medicare. But due to the physical nature of the work performed in the construction and utility industries, sore joints and other physical problems resulting from a career pulling wire or climbing poles make early retirement in some cases a necessity.

"The trade does take a toll on the members," said an IBEW business manager whose health and welfare fund was forced to drop retiree coverage. "There are guys that cant go on early retirement, because its costing $1,000 a month."

Retired Local 551 member Julian Otte, of Santa Rosa, California, said the United States should seek a health care system that provides universal coverage. "Ive been for that for years," he said. "If they did that, the cost overall could go down drastically.

"Everything goes up in priceyour doctors, your gasoline, your groceries, your utility bills, even your home," said Otte, 82, who retired as an inside wireman in 1983. "One of these days you wont be able to afford it." Otte has health insurance through Local 551 that includes prescription drugs, but a limited pension.

"Theyll come around one of these days," Otte said about health care reform. "But I might not be here."

Shifting Burdens,
Shafting Workers

In the United States, most people fit into three broad categories: those covered by Medicare, people without insurance and people with insurance. Medicare, the government-sponsored health care program for people over age 65, currently does not cover prescription drugs or many procedures. As employer-sponsored and multi-employer benefit plans continue to slash benefits, the number of uninsured and underinsured Americans increases, and the costs shift to the states and towns and county hospitals that treat them.

NCHC President Henry Simmons said health care reform must address the national "shell game" of cost shifting. "Some large employers control their costs by shifting costs to their employees or other business, large or small," he said. "Employees have no place to shift their costs except to their pockets."

Wal-Mart, Americas largest private employer, offers such costly health insurance coverage, less than half of its work force is covered. This leaves most of its 1.2 million employees without health insurance, burdening states and communities for unpaid health costs.

Often when workers are forced to bear a greater burden of health care costs, they drop out of their insurance plan altogether. This is particularly true for workers who must take on greater out-of-pocket expenses to keep coverage when they are not working.

Continued Next Page >