[Alberta's Child]

Figuring out what it will mean for retirees will take longer, but analysts said as many as 2 million could lose the prescription drug coverage provided by their former employers, leaving them to enroll in Medicare’s program.

That was part of the strategy all along . . . and this is why the "health care reform" is a bi-partisan measure despite the GOP's political posturing on this.

Remember -- it was the Republican House, Senate and President who passed that Medicare Prescription Drug Plan in the first place. And the intent of that plan all along was to provide a mechanism for major U.S. corporations to dump retirees from their own insurance rolls.

[firebrand]

My experience has been that the corporations try to keep retirees on their plans. They must benefit in some way--larger pool of insured or something, especially if their records show the retiree is basically healthy.

Compare the plan carefully with Medicare plus Medigap and you will probably see that the plan does not compare favorably. They tend to be geared to the executives who chose the plan for the company in the first place.

The drug coverage is usually good, however.