The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has released drafts of financial reporting standards that could make government retiree benefit plans — and the plans’ funding problems — easier to understand. The GASB drafts apply to “other post-employment benefits” (OPEB), including retiree health benefits and any retiree life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care insurance (LTCI) plans.
GASB has posted one draft that applies to the state and local governments that provide OPEB through irrevocable transfers of cash to trusts, one for the OPEB plans funded with irrevocable transfers, and one for pension plans that offer OPEB without having access to cash locked in a trust. GASB members voted to expose the drafts for public comment May 28. Comments are due Aug. 29.
Some insurance agents and brokers continue to sell traditional OPEB programs to government employers, and other producers sell alternatives to traditional OPEB plans, such as access to private exchange programs that help retirees use government employer money to cover part of the cost of buying Medicare supplement insurance or Medicare Advantage plan coverage. Contraction in OPEB programs could also create opportunities for agents selling Medicare supplement insurance, Medicare Advantage plans and individual health insurance products directly to individuals.
See also: GASB Proposes Public Pension Rule Overhaul.
The draft proposals are more generous toward governments that try to fund OPEB ahead of time, instead of paying the bills as they come in.
If a plan has access to cash locked in a trust, members can assume the assets will earn a “long-term expected rate of return,” GASB officials say in a summary of the proposals. When an employer is trying to pay for the benefits as it goes along, it must assume the discount rate will be only as high as the 20-year tax-exempt bond yield on high-quality general obligation municipal bonds.