Thousands of retirees covered by company health insurance plans will soon see their benefits shifted toward private health-insurance exchanges.
IBM and Time Warner announced the change last week. They’ll provide retirees money to buy Medicare Advantage or supplemental Medigap policies instead, part of a push by businesses to move away from the increasingly costly group-coverage model.
American Airlines may follow. Its parent company, AMR Corp., is seeking approval to make the change from a federal bankruptcy court judge.
Observers say other large companies are likely close behind.