Federal Government Policy and Business

USPS Set to Run Out of Postal Retiree Health Care Funding in 12 Years

Government Executive: 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.

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