General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group retirees are flocking to Detroit optometrists and dental offices for eye exams and teeth cleanings before those longtime benefits vanish July 1.
The benefit cuts are among broader changes approved by the United Auto Workers in May as GM and Chrysler sought to restructure before filing for bankruptcy protection.
The concessions were part of an amendment to the UAW’s 2007 agreement with the automakers establishing a union-run health trust fund for retirees, also known as the Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association or VEBA.
The cuts affect nearly 350,000 unionized GM and Chrysler retirees and will mean painful changes for those used to rich benefits and fewer out-of-pocket medical costs.
Along with losing dental and vision benefits, retirees will shoulder higher copayments for emergency room visits and prescription drugs. Catastrophic plans will no longer be offered to retirees or their surviving spouses. And retirees will lose some drug coverage, including benefits for erectile dysfunction medication.
Retirees are scrambling to get costly dentures and new pairs of glasses, providing a windfall for dental and vision offices.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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