Early Retiree Reinsurance Program helping State and Local Governments offset the skyrocketing costs of retiree’s healthcare.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 22, 2011 --

With the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) in full swing there have been some interesting facts released by Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding distribution of funds. The program designed to help employers offset the rising costs of their early retiree’s healthcare has so far been a great success. Employers began receiving reimbursements towards the end of 2010, which totaled payouts of $535 million last year to 253 approved employers. This number seemed small at the time but as a new fiscal quarter started for lots of employers the number of reimbursement requests made rose.

Employers can only make one reimbursement request per quarter and it seemed many did their first at the start of the year. On January 24th 2011 HHS announced that it had distributed nearly $400 million, bringing the total amount left in the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program to around $4 billion.

As you could expect with many municipalities across the country facing major budget issues local and state governments were the main consumer of ERRP funds.

Where ERRP Dollars have been paid out so far according to HHS:

Government: 47%

Commercial: 27.5%
Non-Profit: 15.1%
Union: 10%
Religious: .04%

ERRP has been one of the means employers have used to try to get back on good financial ground. The Program that offers up to 80% reimbursements on retiree health care costs has been applied for by over 5,500 employers across the country. If you have any questions or want more information regarding ERRP please visit RDSservices.us

Benefits Manager     Early Retiree Reinsurance     Health and Human Services     healthcare costs     human resources     local government     retirees     State Government