WORKERS, BEWARE OF BRAVE NEW HEALTH PLANS

摘要

Get ready for the Big Shift, Round Two. First, during the 1980s, CEOS deftly phased out rich defined-benefit pensions and moved workers into you're-on-your-own 401(k)s, shredding a major safety net even as they locked in lifetime benefits for themselves. The move promised the rank and file a chance to make big money in the stock market, but it has also enabled companies to cut 22% of their retirement spending since 1986, according to the Labor Dept. Warning labels about the risks of employees becoming their own investment managers―or about how much less companies would be contributing―were often missing from the promotional brochures. Now, health benefits are in the crosshairs. Faced with soaring increases of 13% and more in runaway costs―and with no relief in sight―companies for the past year have been shifting more of the bill onto workers in the form of higher deductibles, co-pays, and premiums. If the labor market continues to weaken, companies could be even more emboldened to shift more risk, responsibility, and management for health care onto employees.