Sec. 102. Postal Service retiree health care benefit funding reform
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Section 8906(g) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— by striking (2)(A) The Government and inserting (2)(A)(i) The Government ; and in paragraph (2)— in subparagraph (A)— in clause (i), as added by paragraph (1), by striking shall through September 30, 2016, be paid and all that follows and inserting the following: shall be paid as provided in clause (ii). ; and by adding at the end the following: With respect to the Government contributions required to be paid under clause (i)— the portion of the contributions that is equal to the amount of the net claims costs under the enrollment of the individuals described in clause
(i)shall be paid from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund up to the amount contained in the Fund; and any remaining amount shall be paid by the United States Postal Service. ; and by adding at the end the following: For purposes of this paragraph, the amount of the net claims costs under the enrollment of an individual described in subparagraph (A)(i) shall be the amount, as determined by the Office over any particular period of time, equal to the difference between— the sum of— the costs incurred by a carrier in providing health services to, paying for health services provided to, or reimbursing expenses for health services provided to, the individual and any other person covered under the enrollment of the individual; and an amount of indirect expenses reasonably allocable to the provision, payment, or reimbursement described in subclause (I), as determined by the Office; and the amount withheld from the annuity of the individual or otherwise paid by the individual under this section. Any computation by the Office under this section that relates to an individual described in subparagraph (A)(i) of this paragraph shall be made in consultation with the United States Postal Service. . Section 8909a(d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— in paragraph (1)— by striking Office and inserting United States Postal Service ; and by striking required under section 8906(g)(2)(A) and inserting the following: required to be paid from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund under section 8906(g)(2)(A)(ii)(I) ; by striking paragraphs
(2)and (4); by redesignating paragraph
(3)as paragraph (4); by inserting after paragraph
(1)the following: The United States Postal Service shall make sufficient payments into the Fund, in accordance with paragraphs
(4)and (5)(B), so that the value of the assets of the Fund is equal to the Postal Service actuarial liability. Not later than June 30, 2019, the United States Postal Service shall compute, and by June 30 of each succeeding year, the United States Postal Service shall recompute, a schedule including a series of annual installments that provide for the liquidation of the amount described under subparagraph
(B)(regardless of whether the amount is a liability or surplus) by September 30 of the first fiscal year that begins 40 years after the date of enactment of the Postal Service Reform Act of 2018 (unless the schedule is extended as provided in paragraph (4)(C)(ii)(II)), including interest at the rate used in the computations under this subsection. The amount described in this subparagraph is the amount, as of the date on which the applicable computation or recomputation under subparagraph
(A)is made, that is equal to the difference between— 80 percent of the Postal Service actuarial liability as of September 30 of the preceding fiscal year; and the value of the assets of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund as of September 30 of the preceding fiscal year. ; in paragraph (4), as so redesignated— in subparagraph (A)— in clause (iii), by adding and at the end; in clause (iv), by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting a period; and by striking clauses
(v)through (x); in subparagraph (B)— in clause (i), by striking paragraph
(1)and inserting paragraph (1), except to the extent the payment would cause the value of the assets in the Fund to exceed the Postal Service actuarial liability ; and in clause (ii)— by inserting except as provided in subparagraph (C), before any ; and by striking paragraph (2)(B). and inserting paragraph (3). ; and by adding at the end the following: Upon request by the United States Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission may waive the annual installment payment required to be made in a fiscal year under subparagraph (B)(ii) if the United States Postal Service meets conditions established by the Postal Regulatory Commission related to— financial stability and retained earnings; and the capability to maintain a high level of service. If the Postal Regulatory Commission waives the annual installment payment required to be made in a fiscal year under subparagraph (B)(ii)— for purposes of any financial reporting by the United States Postal Service, the payment shall be deemed to have been made; and the United States Postal Service shall extend the liquidation schedule under paragraph (3)(A) by 1 year. If the United States Postal Service does not request a waiver of the annual installment payment required to be made in a fiscal year under subparagraph (B)(ii) and does not make the payment, the United States Postal Service may not increase rates for market-dominant products under section 3622 of title 39 during the following fiscal year. ; by redesignating paragraph
(6)as paragraph (8); by striking paragraph
(5)and inserting the following: Concurrently with each computation or recomputation under paragraph (3), the United States Postal Service shall compute the amount, as of the date of the computation, that is equal to the difference between— the Postal Service actuarial liability as of September 30 of the preceding fiscal year; and the value of the assets of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund as of September 30 of the preceding fiscal year. If the United States Postal Service disposes of any property owned or leased by the United States Postal Service, and, based on the most recent computation under subparagraph (A), the amount described in clause
(i)of that subparagraph is greater than the amount described in clause
(ii)of that subparagraph, the United States Postal Service shall pay into the Fund the lesser of— the amount of net profit to the United States Postal Service resulting from the disposal of property (as determined by the Postal Regulatory Commission); or the amount computed under subparagraph (A). The United States Postal Service shall make each payment required under subparagraph
(B)without regard to whether the United States Postal Service has completed the annual installment payments required under paragraph (4)(B)(ii), as scheduled under paragraph (3)(A). Computations under this subsection shall be based on— economic and actuarial methods and assumptions consistent with the methods and assumptions used in determining the Postal surplus or supplemental liability under section 8348(h); and any other methods and assumptions, including a health care cost trend rate, that the Director of the Office determines to be appropriate. The Office shall provide to the United States Postal Service any data necessary for computations under this subsection. Upon computing an amount or schedule under this subsection for a fiscal year, the United States Postal Service shall provide the data used for the computation to the Postal Regulatory Commission for review of the computation. Not later than 30 days after receiving data from the United States Postal Service under subparagraph (B), the Postal Regulatory Commission, in consultation with the United States Postal Service, shall— determine whether the amount or schedule was computed in accordance with this subsection; if the amount or schedule was computed in accordance with this subsection, submit to the Office a certification that the amount or schedule is the definitive amount or schedule for that fiscal year; and if the amount or schedule was not computed in accordance with this subsection, request that the Office recompute the amount or schedule. Not later than 30 days after receiving a request from the Postal Regulatory Commission under subparagraph (C)(iii), the Office shall recompute the amount or schedule. If the Office recomputes an amount or schedule under clause (i), the recomputed amount or schedule shall be the definitive amount or schedule for that fiscal year for purposes of this subsection. ; and by adding at the end the following: In this subsection, the term Postal Service actuarial liability means the difference between— the net present value of future payments required to be paid from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund under section 8906(g)(2)(A)(ii)(I) for current and future United States Postal Service annuitants; and the net present value as computed under paragraph
(1)attributable to the future service of United States Postal Service employees. For purposes of computing an amount under paragraph
(1)or (9)(A), section 8906(g)(2)(A)(ii)(I) shall be applied as though up to the amount contained in the Fund were struck. . Any obligation of the Postal Service under section 8909a(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act, that remains unpaid as of such date of enactment is canceled. In this subsection— the term applicable fiscal year means the first fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2020, in which the amount computed under paragraph (3)(B) of section 8909a(d) of title 5, United States Code (as amended by subsection (b)) is a surplus; and the term Medicare fund means— the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund under section 1817 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395i ); the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund under section 1841 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395t ); and the Medicare Prescription Drug Account under section 1860D–16 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395w–116 ). Not later than 30 days after the date on which the schedule under paragraph (3)(A) of section 8909a(d) of title 5, United States Code (as amended by subsection (b)) in the applicable fiscal year is certified by the Commission or recomputed by the Office of Personnel Management, as applicable under paragraph
(6)of such section 8909a(d)— the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— estimate the amount of the increased expenditures required from the Medicare funds, including the amount required from each such fund, by reason of the requirements under section 8903c(e) of title 5, United States Code (as added by section 101(a)(1) of this Act) for the 10-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act; and notify the Secretary of the Treasury and the Postal Service of the amount estimated under clause (i); and the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund to the Medicare funds an amount equal to the amount estimated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under subparagraph (A)(i), in accordance with paragraph
(3)of this subsection. An amount transferred under subparagraph
(B)of paragraph
(2)shall be divided among the Medicare funds in proportion to the increased expenditures required from each such fund, as estimated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under subparagraph (A)(i) of that paragraph. The heading of section 8909a of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking and inserting Benefit . Benefits It is the sense of Congress that nothing in this section or the amendments made by this section is intended to establish a precedent with respect to Federal employees at large, given that the Postal Service is a unique entity within the Federal Government and benefits for employees of the Postal Service are only partially integrated with benefits for Federal employees at large.
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- 42 USC 1395w–116
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Sec. 102
Postal Service retiree health care benefit funding reform
Cite42 USC 1395w–116
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