Early retirees may get health-care help

What with years of layoffs, employee buyouts and sending jobs offshore, corporate America has helped create a pool of about 800,000 early retirees who now find themselves in a health-care bind.

They are no longer eligible for employer insurance programs, too young to qualify for Medicare and unable to afford private insurance on their own.

But now corporate America, having created the problem, is trying to help solve it.

A group of some of the nation's biggest companies plans Saturday to announce a program meant to make health insurance available to their former employees between the ages of 55 and 64.

Not only would the insurance policies be relatively affordable, but no one could be turned down for coverage, regardless of medical condition. That is a crucial provision, because high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and other medical afflictions of late middle age can make it hard for early retirees to find an insurer willing to cover them at any price.

The specifics will vary from employer to employer, with some of the companies actually helping subsidize the coverage. Other employers might simply create large pools of retirees so they could get discounted group rates.

Typically, the policies will carry a moderately high annual deductible — perhaps $500 to $1,100 or so in out-of-pocket medical expenses before coverage kicks in. The retirees' monthly premiums will range from $400 to $1,200 or more, depending on whether the employer defrays part of the cost.

That is significantly lower than what people in this age range can expect to pay, if they can find individual insurance at all.

"If I have had a triple heart bypass, there's not a snowball's chance of getting coverage in the individual market," said Richard J. Lueders, who oversees benefits at the big Michigan utility DTE Energy, a member of the employers committee that created the program.

The sponsor, the HR Policy Association, represents 250 large companies, including General Electric, IBM, Sears, Starbucks and United Parcel Service. Although the association says it does not know how many total early retirees there are among its members, a few of the bigger companies have tens of thousands, while some newer technology businesses have none.