Retirees from Kodak, other companies may benefit from health care bill
Prompted by numerous Rochester-area retirees facing sizable cuts to their health care benefits, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter said today she got language into the Affordable Health Care for America Act that would let them temporarily join an insurance pool to try to lower their insurance costs.
The Fairport Democrat talked about the provision during a press conference today held at Lifespan in Rochester.
“This provision could help people who can’t otherwise get benefits,” said Robert Volpe, an organizer of EKRA Ltd., a Rochester-based Eastman Kodak Co. retiree organization.
According to Slaughter, the temporary pool would be for retirees who are seeing the premiums in their employer-provided health coverage go up substantially. For example, numerous Kodak retirees will see triple-digit percentage increases in their health care premiums in 2010.
According to Slaughter’s office, the secretary of Health and Human Services would be charged with determining what is the size increase in premiums that would qualify a retiree for the temporary pool. The premiums in that pool would be capped and could not be 25 percent more expensive than locally available similar plans, meaning it could save Kodak retirees hundreds of dollars monthly, according to Slaughter’s office.
The bill was passed by the House Nov. 7. The Senate is scheduled to start debate this week on its own version of a health care overhaul bill.
Slaughter said she was confident her provision would make it through conference committee and be included in any final bill.
