CIGNA Senior and Retiree Services’ goal is to help people transition into a healthy and secure retirement … whether they are active employees, those who wish to retire before 65, or those who have already retired or are ready to retire. We do this by developing creative solutions to help this diverse population try to lead as healthy and active lives as possible as they move from asset accumulation and health improvement, into the asset protection and health maintenance period of their lives … and finally into the need to preserve their assets and find assistance as their health care needs increase.
Why retiree coverage? *
There are currently 87 million people in the United states over the age of 50 and the numbers are expected to rise dramatically over the next 30 years.
It is expected that there will be 111 millions age 50 + individuals by 2016, and over the next 2 years they will represent 36 percent of the U.S. population.
Workforce dynamics are changing resulting in more and more employers decreasing or eliminating retiree coverage:
Changes in financial accounting standards require employers to accrue for the liability of post-employment benefits, making it more difficult for employers to offer retiree benefits.
Over $603 billion is being spent on health care for this population, a number that will only grow as the number of people reaching retirement age increases. These rising health care costs are hindering some employers’ ability to compete in a global marketplace.
Retiree medical benefits are now offered by just one in three large employers, down from two in three in the late 1980s, according to a study by the Kaiser Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.
Escalating health care costs are preventing people who may wish to retire early from retiring before the age of 65 when they become eligible for Medicare.
* For more detailed information on the issues surrounding retiree health care coverage see the white paper entitled “The New Health Care Gap: Sustaining the Continuum of Health Care Benefits for Early Retirees" by Ken Sperling, senior vice president, CIGNA Senior & Retiree Services on the CIGNA News Room.
