Dearborn, MI – Today, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the first 2,000 accepted organizations into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program.  That list included 97 employers in Michigan, including large and small businesses, State and local governments, educational institutions, non-profits, and unions.  Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) was pleased to see so many Michigan organizations using the program to help maintain coverage for early retirees age 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare.

“When working on the health care reform bill, we saw an opportunity to help people and business with a program designed to protect the early retirees,” Dingell said.  “We knew that there was a need for such a program, because the percentage of large firms providing workers with retiree health coverage dropped from 66 percent in 1988 to 29 percent in 2009.  But the large number of accepted applicants in the first round shows that this is also a good program and employers see how it will help them.”

The list of Michigan applicants approved includes Wayne County, the Cities of Inkster and Dearborn, General Motors LLC, Lear Corporation and SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation).  For a complete list of Michigan employers accepted click here.

Some of the major American companies that are among the nearly 2,000 employers now enrolled in the program include General Electric, General Motors, Coca-Cola Company, Pepsi, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Raytheon, Walt Disney Company, United Airlines, and Boeing.

Created by the Affordable Care Act as a bridge to the new health insurance Exchanges in 2014, the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program provides $5 billion in financial assistance to participating organizations.

Click here for more information on the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program and an interactive map displaying the employers that have been accepted.