USPS withdrawal from federal benefits could put stability of plans into jeopardy

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League of Postmasters Releases Statement on USPS Newsbreak Regarding Retirement and Health Benefit Proposal.

The National league of Postmasters fully recognizes the gravity of the financial position the Postal Service finds itself in, but is extremely concerned about the Postal Service’s radical notion to abandon the Federal retirement system and the Federal Health Benefit Plan, the most efficient and effective set of health care plans in the United States. Not only would such an action throw postal employees to the wolves, but withdrawal of postal employees from the Federal Plans could put the continued health and stability of those plans into jeopardy.

We have recently seen action by certain elements in the government that have taken the notion of federal government irresponsibility to a new high. Not surprisingly, we have seen the disgust of the American public with that type of irresponsibility also reached a new high. Suggestions such as these by the Postal Service fit into the same category and should not even be considered.

Were the Postal Service a private business, it would stop prefunding a pension plan that was already overfunded, and it would be allowed to transfer the existing surplus from its pension funds to its retirement health benefit funds. But, because it is a federal government entity, it is not allowed to do that because such actions would disrupt the smoke and mirrors that the government has used for years to make itself look good.

It’s time for Congress to do the right thing. Stop forcing the Postal Service to make payments into a fund that is already overfunded, and start allowing it to use the surplus in its pension funds to prefund its retiree health benefits. Were those actions to be allowed, this nonsensical talk of withdrawing from the federal pension system and from the federal health benefit system would disappear, and some semblance of rationality could once again begin to creep back into policy discussion in Washington, D.C..

source: National League of Postmasters 

 

7 thoughts on “USPS withdrawal from federal benefits could put stability of plans into jeopardy”

  2. The powers that be are escalating the timeline for privatization of the Postal Service. I envision the Wall Street brokers already salivating for that TSP fund and the FERS fund.

  4. To review these papers ,go to the August 12th postings on this blog and click on to the read icon at the bottom of the article. The first set of papers deal with F.E.H.B. and the respective retirement systems(C.S.R.S.and F.E.R.S.) and the second set below these deals with reduction of the employee complement !

  5. Ouch…that hurts. The Post Officew wants to run retirement and health plans. Wow they can’t even run the mail service. Can you see it now emplayees TSP account would disapear in the night and when everybody needed a Doctor to fix the wounds they would find out they were not covered anymore. SAY NO to that proposal…Hey what is the Postmaster smoking lately. Its is time for OBAMA to do something about this guy…. show him the road…..NO GOLDEN PARACHUTE…

  6. I would hope that before the N.L.P. expresses an opinion in the future it will be in full possession of the facts. The U.S.P.S. wants the entire sum paid into the RETIRE HEALTH BENEFIT FUND over the years! This totals 42.5 billion dollars( this can be found on page 4, last paragraph, of the WHITE PAPERS). In order to establish a credible retirement system it wants the total sums paid into C.S.R.S.(195.3 billion dollars) and F.E.R.S.( 75.2 billion dollars ) over the years( WHITE PAPERS page 7, second full paragraph). That clearly is not going to happen. If Congress objected to the more modest sums put forth previously by the U.S.P.S. , this request has as much hope of gaining support as the proverbial “snowball in hell” has of not melting! The sad fact of the matter is management was part of the problem that caused the decline of the postal Service and now it has to take it’s bitter medicine in the form of the ISSA reform bill which will be before Congress before the end of the year. Maybe the Postal Service needs to be in receivership to sort out it’s problems,for given the tract record of management ,if left to their own plans and schemes,the only prospect is a bankrupt service!

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