Will Public Sector Retiree Health Benefit Plans Survive? Economic and Policy Implications of nfunded Liabilities

摘要

Recent articles have reported a large and growing financial crisis associated with retiree health plans offered by state and local governments, and have expressed alarm over their impact on the financial status of these governmental units (Goldman Sachs 2007; David Zion and Amit Varshney 2007). The concern about the unfunded liabilities of retiree health plans follows from a change in the public accounting rules issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). GASB Statement No. 45 requires state and local governments to report unfunded accrued liabilities and annual required contributions needed to fully fund the retiree health promises. The GASB 45 statements produced by state governments indicate that unfunded liabilities for state employees and retirees total approximately $500 billion.