5
Factors Affecting the Trust
Declining Hours
Worked
In 1971, there were
approximately nine active
employees for each participant
in the Trust. Today, that ratio
has dropped to about one
active employee for each two
participants in the Trust.
Decreasing numbers of hours
worked means decreasing
contributions to the Trust.
The following chart shows the
dramatic drop in hours reported
to the Trust.
Affordable Care Act
(ACA or Healthcare Reform).
As a retiree-only plan, the Trust
is not subject to certain rules set
forth in the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act. For
example, retiree-only plans are
not required to:
• Offer free preventive health
benefits;
• Remove annual and lifetime
limits on how much they will
spend on medical care;
• Remove limits on emergency
health care; or
• Cover children.
However, the Trust has been
impacted by ACA, and in 2015,
the Trust paid
an assessment
in the amount
of $36,616.00
to fund
the Patient
Centered
Outcomes
Research Trust
Fund (PCORF).
Early
Retirees
Typically,
retirees who
are not yet
eligible for
Medicare have
had a great
effect on the
costs of retiree
health benefit plans. These plans
generally pay more for the health
care of early retirees than for the
retirees with Medicare. As the
years have passed, the Trust’s
costs have also been affected by
the number of early retirees.
In 2015, early retirees accounted
for 57% of new participants.
These early retirements have put
ongoing pressure on the Trust’s
funds. This is important to note
because the cost to the Trust
of providing benefits to a non-
Medicare eligible participant is,
on average, more than five times
higher than the cost of providing
benefits to a participant who is
Medicare eligible.
There was an overall decline
in the Trust’s enrollment of
2.9% from 2014 to 2015. PPO
enrollment decreased by 2.0%
and the Indemnity enrollment
declined by 3.1%. PPO enrollment
represented 78.4% of the total
non-Medicare participants.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
113.9
118.5
133.1
123.1
82.8
69.1
53.9
39.5
24.5
23.4
19.3
Plan Years Ending
Total Hours Reported (In Millions)
