Sears to cut retirees’ $37 monthly health care subsidy
By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, Chicago Tribune | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Only employees who retired before 2000 were eligible to receive the subsidy, which was reduced in 2006 and is applied to the monthly cost of health care coverage through
The move will save
There will be no change to pensions or life insurance, he added.
"While
The average age of the retirees in this group, which represents one-tenth of all 140,000
To soften the blow,
It also is setting up a dedicated call center staffed by
"In many cases we think they may be over-covered or have coverage they don't need," said
All retirees would have the option to stay with the current plan but would be paying
The decision to eliminate the subsidy was, in part, because "we are looking at opportunities to do the right thing in terms of expenses," said
High health care costs and a competitive retail environment, where many other companies don't offer such a benefit, also drove the decision, Brathwaite said.
Olbrysh questions whether the
"It would have been a small cost for
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