Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, September 09, 2013

Time Warner To Remove U.S. Retirees From Company Health Plan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc is planning to transfer its U.S. retirees from company-sponsored health plans and move them to private insurance exchanges.

According to an August memo obtained by Reuters, the media company will make allocations to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement account for retirees to use towards the purchase of coverage on an exchange. Previously, Time Warner provided an indirect subsidy through a supplementary Medicare program.

The shift "will ultimately be beneficial for all retirees by providing more choice of coverage ... for, in many cases, a lower cost," read the memo, which was written by James Cummings, the company's senior vice president of global compensation and benefits.

The change in coverage will take effect on January 1, 2014.

Time Warner is not the only company to take such steps as a result of the government's healthcare reform laws. International Business Machines Corp on Friday announced a similar plan, which it said was a way to lower costs for retirees.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author: Ryan Vlastelica 

No comments:

Post a Comment