SECTION11. RETIREEHEALTHBENEFITS Section11 RetireeHealthBenefits Retiree health benefitsareanimportantconsiderationforolderworkersmakingdecisionsabouttheirretirement. Health benefitsforretireesprovideanimportantsupplementtoMedicareforretireesage65orolder. Overtime,thepercentageof firmsofferingretireecoveragehasdecreased. Thissurveyasksretireehealthbenefitsquestionsonlyoflargefirms(200ormore workers). EMPLOYERRETIREEBENEFITS • In 2017, 25%oflargefirmsthatofferhealthbenefitstotheirworkersofferretireecoverage,similartorecentyears[Figure 11.1]. However,therehasbeenadownwardtrendinthepercentageoffirmsofferingretireescoverage,from32%in 2007and40%in1999. • Retiree health benefitsofferratesvaryconsiderablybyfirmcharacteristics. – Amonglargefirmsofferinghealthbenefits,firmswith200-999workersarelesslikelytoofferretireehealth benefitsthanfirmswith1,000ormoreworkers(23%vs.36%)[Figure11.2]. – Theshareoflargefirmsofferingretireehealthbenefitsvariesconsiderablybyindustry. Stateandlocal governments(73%)andtransportation/communication/utilitiesindustries(47%)havehigherthanaverageoffer rates, while retail (5%) and health care (8%) have lower than average offer rates [Figure 11.2]. – Amonglargefirmsofferinghealthbenefits,theshareofpublicfirmsofferingretireebenefits(67%)ishigherthan thesharesofprivatefor-profitfirms(11%)orprivatenot-for-profitfirms(19%)offeringretireebenefits[Figure 11.3]. – Largefirmswithatleastsomeunionworkersaremorelikelytoofferretireehealthbenefitsthanlargefirms withoutanyunionworkers(45%vs.18%)[Figure11.3]. • Twenty-sixpercentoflargefirmsofferingretireebenefitscontributetothosebenefitsthroughacontractwitha MedicareAdvantageplan. Firmswith1,000-4,999workersaremorelikelytocontributetoretireebenefitsthrougha contractwithaMedicareAdvantageplanthanotherlargefirms(44%vs.21%)[Figure11.4]. The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust / Page 173