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USPS Will Run Out Of Retiree Health Care Funding In 12 Years
Hotair ^ | 10/04/2018 | Jazz Shaw

Posted on 10/04/2018 10:33:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind


Just when things seemed to be looking up for the Post Office, more bad news comes to darken their doorway. They may be turning a profit in the next couple of quarters, but there’s a financial dark cloud looming on the horizon. Like many state and municipal governments around the country, the USPS offers a generous retirement plan for its workers. Very generous. It includes guaranteed health care coverage for the rest of your life. But a new report at Government Executive reveals a recent audit showing that the pool of available money to pay for those benefits is going to dry up in a little over a decade if some changes aren’t made.

The U.S. Postal Service will run out of money to pay for its retirees’ health care in 12 years if Congress does not take action to address the funding shortfall, according to a new audit of the benefit program.

Funding for former postal employees has long been a sticking point in the fight to get the mailing agency’s finances back on firmer footing, and for the last 10 years USPS has faced a requirement to prefund the benefit for future retirees. USPS has defaulted on many of those payments and the Government Accountability Office now describes the financial outlook of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund as “poor.” About 500,000 retirees rely on the program, GAO said, and current law has no contingency plan for what would happen if the agency runs out of money to pay for their care.

So according to the labor agreement set up for the Post Office, they’re supposed to be pre-funding the health care plan for all of their retirees to avoid precisely this situation. But they’ve missed a lot of those prefunding payments, adding up to the tune of $38B. Adding more confusion to the situation is the fact that there’s no provision under current law stating what to do if they run out of money.

Considering that the USPS is lucky to turn even a small profit most years, it’s not as if they’re going to magically generate nearly $40B extra over the next decade. So what do they do then? Come back to the taxpayers looking for another bailout? Somehow I don’t think there’s going to be much support for that in Congress. This could be yet another argument against privatizing the Post Office. Can you imagine what a for-profit private company would do under these circumstances?

Much like state and municipal government workers, the Post Office is struggling under the burden of unreasonable expectations. Fat, generous retirement plans are mostly a thing of the past in this modern economy. Everyone is running on tight margins and facing plenty of competition. Unless you work in one of the loftiest, highest paying positions in the country, expecting your former employer to provide you with a steady income and free benefits for the rest of your life is simply unrealistic. But these types of agreements are in place all over the country and such plans are going bankrupt right and left.

I still think the Post Office could be made more profitable, but it will require new leadership that’s willing to shake things up. For one thing, they should increase the cost of sending out unsolicited junk mail, including political campaign mailers. The big private carriers like UPS and FedEx aren’t going to touch that end of the business with a ten-foot pole. If the USPS raised the junk mail rate by a nickel they would either bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue every year or we’d have less garbage in our mailboxes. It’s a win either way.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: federalpension; healthcare; postoffice; usps; uspspension
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To: SeekAndFind

NO sympathy from me. None. The USPS has been a parasite for ages. If there is any justice it will go away somehow and I don’t care how it happens. Any agency that claims it is a business that simply handles mail, packages the same thing a lowly paid courier does and pays their people the way the USPS does deserves to die.

Today a GS-13 is compensated at a base between $75K and $98K a year. The thing is, there is a locale based wage adjustment of up to 30% and the minimum is +15%. That can be a very good living in lots of the United States especially small town America where the average household income is like $30K a year.

Would you believe that a postmaster / postmistress in small town USA is graded as a GS-13? Pretty damn rediculous if you ask me. USPS deserves to go out of “business”. No sympathy here from me.

Explain to me why we need delivery six days a week when we are just an email away from sending someone all the information they need? Why five days a week? Why any?

The game should be over for USPS.

Who is going to bail out the rest of us who take care of our own retirement? NOBODY. Why should be bail out anyone else? WE should not.


21 posted on 10/04/2018 11:26:26 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just have a few days that don't suck.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

I figure the same. They have a big enough lobby to get attention.


22 posted on 10/04/2018 11:27:29 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just have a few days that don't suck.)
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To: bert
Thanks, no question about that.
But not as an investment, per se.
it's how the illinois lottery used to fund its big winners. they'd buy a 400k annuity that would pay out a millions bucks over 20 years.

now they buy United States Treasury zero-coupon bonds. like but not quite the same.

http://www.illinoislottery.com/en-us/Financial_Information.html

http://www.illinoislottery.com/content/dam/ill/documents/Illinois_Lottery_Investments_2018-08-31.pdf

23 posted on 10/04/2018 11:28:38 AM PDT by stylin19a ( Best.Election.Of.All.Times.Ever.In.The.History.Of.Ever)
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To: SeekAndFind

Aren’t their retirees eligible for Medicare? What is the problem?


24 posted on 10/04/2018 11:31:49 AM PDT by NEMDF
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To: Smogger

I can understand why people are bitching about USPS. I know they suck but I have dozens of friends who sell on Amazon and Ebay as their livelihood.

WITHOUT first class mail and the cheap ass Priority Mail (where can you find Priority Mail letter envelope at $6.35 delivery where you can stick an “allowed” 70 lbs?), I seriously doubt anyone can survive using Fedex and UPS delivery. It’s simply too expensive for a simple less than 16 ounce delivery and buyers will simply pay more for delivery...not with cheapskate Ebay and online buyers around.

I didn’t know the technicalities of selling online before I witnessed the operation firsthand but delivery cost is essential. Fedex, UPS are just not feasible. It only may work for the fabric industry where I have close friends who have their own ecommerce business but my bud who sells online apparel and small light stuff using UPS? Not worth it.


25 posted on 10/04/2018 11:31:59 AM PDT by max americana (Fired libtard employees 9 consecutive times at every election since 08'. I hope all liberals die.)
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To: max americana

Also, I have a relative who is in prison and the only way for him to get or send mail is.... through the real mail. Cannot just whip off a text message or email whenever he wants to.


26 posted on 10/04/2018 11:44:35 AM PDT by NEMDF
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To: SeekAndFind
The USPS doesn't set their own rates. The Postal Rate Commission (Political appointees) determines the rates, and are under the influence of congress.

All congress- critters get FREE franked mail.

Non-Profits get cheap rates, determined by the Rate Commission

USPS, across a several year cycle, has to break even, not make a profit.

Unions create workplace rules that make it impossible to run in a businesslike manner

None of this lends itself to running in true business-like manner.

Maybe our President will set them free from some of the more onerous constraints, and they can make enough to pay for all their commitments.

27 posted on 10/04/2018 11:52:01 AM PDT by Kay Ludlow (Government actions ALWAYS have unintended consequences.)
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To: wally_bert
95 percent of the mail I get is nothing but junk and advertising.

I'm guessing that roughly half of the trash I put to the curb each week entered my home via the postal service.


28 posted on 10/04/2018 12:05:09 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: max americana

I purchase tons of stuff online, sellers including Amazon use everything from UPS to the USPS, FedEx, and even Amazon’s own service, and services you have never heard ago.

USPS is just as good if not better than all the rest. Anyone who says different doesn’t get a lot of mail outside bills and junkmail :-)


29 posted on 10/04/2018 12:12:10 PM PDT by Smogger
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To: Buckeye McFrog

When people say this I always wonder what does that have to do with the postal service itself? They didn’t send the bulk mail. If you are saying they should up the prices to send bulk mail why not just say that?

Bulk mail exists because it is effective.


30 posted on 10/04/2018 12:18:36 PM PDT by Smogger
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To: Para-Ord.45

Actually the post office is doing fine, who do you think delivers most of those interweb packages? The sweet heart money losing deal for Amazon needs to end...

The biggest problem with the post office financially has been the mandates by congress to OVERCONTRIBUTE to its pension funds by BILLIONS of dollars...

Revenues have actually been going up for a good while now even with lower volumes.. But when your boss tells you PUT 5 BILLION or whatever it is more cash into your pension than you were previously required to.. that leaves a mark.


31 posted on 10/04/2018 12:18:36 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: HamiltonJay

That’s exactly true. No other enterprise is forced to plow that much cash into it’s pension fund. The USPS is plenty solvent they are just required to fund their pensions much further out than any other business PERIOD.


32 posted on 10/04/2018 12:28:45 PM PDT by Smogger
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To: Smogger

My postal crowd can’t deliver a package to the right zip code about a third of the time but that useless junk mail never fails.

Give me UPS and Fedex.


33 posted on 10/04/2018 12:52:28 PM PDT by wally_bert (I will competently make sure the thing is done incompetently.)
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To: Smogger

There were so many times USPS DELIVERS PRIORITY MAIL ON SUNDAYS, I kid you not.

Last time was Sunday 3 weeks ago when we were shooting an episode, I parked my car 3 blocks out and noticed one USPS guy delivering mail and they were ALL Priority Mail. From what i understand, it will STATE “2 DAYS DELIVERY” on the shipping label and they HAVE to do it as stated on the label.


34 posted on 10/04/2018 1:00:16 PM PDT by max americana (Fired libtard employees 9 consecutive times at every election since 08'. I hope all liberals die.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Everyone has always known that you could get more out of a job at the post office than you put in. It is government, it is union, it takes zero intelligence or work ethic. You get an easy job, keep it for 20 years, retire, and start another career to double dip. I’ve known a half dozen people who have don exactly that, none of whom I like — they are all lazy, arrogant scum.
A pox on them all.

And why in he!! don’t my packages get scanned?


35 posted on 10/04/2018 1:43:00 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: Darteaus94025

They’ll still have Obamacare! I’m sure their union backed it 100%


36 posted on 10/04/2018 2:05:30 PM PDT by allwrong57
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To: SeekAndFind

My local USPS manager can’t assign a permanent carrier to our route because the assigned carrier is heading in to retirement and is meanwhile using all of his personal leave while temp carriers cover his route. She can only replace him once he officially “retires.”

— we’re into the SECOND year of this now. Insane.


37 posted on 10/04/2018 7:31:38 PM PDT by nicollo (I said no!)
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