Applications for the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) will no longer be accepted after May 5, 2011.
Reason: After having already approved 5,400 applications, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that enough plan sponsors are enrolled to exhaust the program’s $5 billion in funding.
To date, $1.8 billion has been paid to about 1,300 plan sponsors.
Created by the health reform law, the program offers reimbursements to organizations that have early retiree healthcare plans.
Under the program, plans sponsors are reimbursed for a portion of medical claims costs incurred on or after June 1, 2010 by retirees who are at least 55 and not eligible for Medicare — as well as covered dependents.
Once a retiree plan incurs $15,000 in medical claims in a plan year, the ERRP will reimburse 80% of additional claims up to a $90,000 cap.
Info: For plan sponsors wishing to apply for the program, check out the application instructions and download the application (PDFs).
