Employee Benefits:
Company Actions to Limit Retiree Health Costs
HRD-89-31BR: Published: Feb 1, 1989. Publicly Released: Feb 1, 1989.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on non-government enterprises' retiree health plans and benefits, focusing on the companies' ability to change plans and benefits.
GAO found that, of the 29 companies it surveyed: (1) all could change their health care plans to help contain costs by restricting coverage to certain participants, limiting service coverage, and requiring participants to pay more of the coverage and service costs; (2) all perceived that they had the right to modify or terminate plans, with 27 companies having explicit language in their plans reserving their rights to modify or terminate plans; (3) all changed their plans in the 4-year period ended January 1988 by adding cost-containment measures or raising participants' copayments for coverage and services; (4) all cited concerns about the necessity of more drastic measures, due to rising health care costs and the Financial Accounting Standards Board's announced intention to require companies to disclose retiree health care costs in their financial statements; and (5) 26 companies remained committed to continuing retiree health benefits, but expressed uncertainty about their ability to do so. GAO believes that options Congress could consider to increase the security of retiree health benefits include: (1) applying pension policies to retiree health benefits; and (2) requiring companies with health plans to allow retirees to purchase coverage at group rates.
Oct 1, 2018
Postal Retiree Health Benefits:
Unsustainable Finances Need to Be AddressedGAO-18-602: Published: Aug 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Oct 1, 2018.
Jun 4, 2018
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Central States Pension Fund:
Department of Labor Activities under the Consent Decree and Federal LawGAO-18-105: Published: Jun 4, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2018. -
Central States Pension Fund:
Investment Policy Decisions and Challenges Facing the PlanGAO-18-106: Published: Jun 4, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2018.
May 22, 2018
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Retirement Plan Investing:
Clearer Information on Consideration of Environmental Social and Governance Factors Would Be HelpfulGAO-18-398: Published: May 22, 2018. Publicly Released: May 22, 2018.
May 21, 2018
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Railroad Retirement Board:
Additional Controls and Oversight of Financial Interchange Transfers NeededGAO-18-323: Published: Apr 19, 2018. Publicly Released: May 21, 2018.
May 17, 2018
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Social Security Administration:
Observations on Use and Costs of Social Security CardsGAO-18-507T: Published: May 17, 2018. Publicly Released: May 17, 2018.
Mar 7, 2018
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Social Security Administration:
Continuing Leadership Focus Needed to Modernize How SSA Does BusinessGAO-18-432T: Published: Mar 7, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 7, 2018.
Mar 5, 2018
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Workplace Retirement Accounts:
Better Guidance and Information Could Help Plan Participants at Home and Abroad Manage Their Retirement SavingsGAO-18-19: Published: Jan 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 5, 2018.
Feb 21, 2018
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Railroad Retirement Board:
Actions Needed to Improve the Effectiveness and Oversight of Continuing Disability ReviewsGAO-18-287: Published: Feb 21, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb 21, 2018.
Jan 8, 2018
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Social Security Disability:
Additional Measures and Evaluation Needed to Enhance Accuracy and Consistency of Hearings DecisionsGAO-18-37: Published: Dec 7, 2017. Publicly Released: Jan 8, 2018.
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