{"id":692,"date":"2011-05-02T15:27:27","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T20:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pensionblog.com\/?p=692"},"modified":"2011-05-02T15:27:27","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T20:27:27","slug":"opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/2011\/05\/02\/opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"OPEB Participation Rates &#8211; \u201cKind of a Grey Area\u201d Under Healthcare Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the highest impact assumptions in OPEB actuarial valuations is the participation\u00a0rate. \u00a0This rate represents the percent of future retirees assumed to\u00a0participate\u00a0in the employer\u2019s health plan\u00a0during retirement.<\/p>\n<p>The participation assumption has a direct and leveraged effect on OPEB liabilities.\u00a0 For example, if the assumption is that 60% of employees are assumed to elect coverage at retirement, but the actual \u201ccrystal ball\u201d rate is 40%, then the plan\u2019s liability is 1\u00bd times what it should be. \u00a0As a result of healthcare reform, similar examples may become a reality that employers and actuaries should address proactively.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vaniwaarden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/fletch-34.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-702\" title=\"fletch 3\" src=\"https:\/\/vaniwaarden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/fletch-34.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/fletch-34.jpg 560w, https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/fletch-34-300x179.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>How will healthcare reform affect participation rates? \u00a0That\u2019s kind of a grey area. \u00a0How grey?\u00a0 \u201cCharcoal\u201d as Fletch would say.<\/p>\n<p>Participation rates will be different in the future due to anticipated cost-saving changes to retiree plans by employers. \u00a0Recently, 61% of the companies included in an Aon Hewitt survey were either already evaluating or expected to evaluate their long-term retiree medical strategy by the end of 2011.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Another factor affecting participation rates is that retirees will be able to comparatively shop the benefits, features and costs of their employer\u2019s plan with private and state-run exchange plans.\u00a0 It is inevitable that some retirees will find a plan, and not their employer\u2019s plan, that provides a better value and\/or fit of benefits.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s the next step? \u00a0Be proactive and determine your organization\u2019s long-term goals for retiree healthcare. \u00a0This involves learning what options are or will be available to retirees, strategizing as to which options best meet your goals and consulting with your actuary to determine the impact that changes will have on your OPEB costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the highest impact assumptions in OPEB actuarial valuations is the participation\u00a0rate. \u00a0This rate represents the percent of future retirees assumed to\u00a0participate\u00a0in the employer\u2019s health plan\u00a0during retirement. The participation assumption has a direct and leveraged effect on OPEB liabilities.\u00a0 For example, if the assumption is that 60% of employees are assumed to elect coverage [&#8230;]<a class=\"understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/2011\/05\/02\/opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform\/\">Read More&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> from OPEB Participation Rates &#8211; \u201cKind of a Grey Area\u201d Under Healthcare Reform<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,16,17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>OPEB Participation Rates - \u201cKind of a Grey Area\u201d Under Healthcare Reform - Via Actuarial Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/2011\/05\/02\/opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OPEB Participation Rates - \u201cKind of a Grey Area\u201d Under Healthcare Reform - Via Actuarial Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the highest impact assumptions in OPEB actuarial valuations is the participation\u00a0rate. \u00a0This rate represents the percent of future retirees assumed to\u00a0participate\u00a0in the employer\u2019s health plan\u00a0during retirement. The participation assumption has a direct and leveraged effect on OPEB liabilities.\u00a0 For example, if the assumption is that 60% of employees are assumed to elect coverage [...]Read More... from OPEB Participation Rates &#8211; \u201cKind of a Grey Area\u201d Under Healthcare Reform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/2011\/05\/02\/opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Via Actuarial Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-02T20:27:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vaniwaarden.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/fletch-34.jpg?w=300\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Grabrian, ASA, EA, MAAA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Grabrian, ASA, EA, MAAA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/2011\/05\/02\/opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/2011\/05\/02\/opeb-participation-rates-kind-of-a-grey-area-under-healthcare-reform\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Grabrian, ASA, EA, MAAA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/viaactuarial.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d12b99182a3f87d009bc32f4e3fae3d2\"},\"headline\":\"OPEB Participation Rates &#8211; 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