43
Forum unions relieved by announcement
Photo
Union officials at Forum Health are relieved by the announcement by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. that it will pay the pensions of some of the hospital system’s 7,000 retirees and future retirees.
YOUNGSTOWN
Forum Health union officials say news that the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will pay the defined-benefits pensions of some 7,000 of the hospital system’s retirees and future retirees is a relief to those affected.
“From what I’ve read of it, it is good news. It’s a weight off people’s minds,” said Eric Williams, president of the Ohio Nurses Association’s Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association at Northside Medical Center.
Even though the issue was addressed during Forum Health’s bankruptcy proceedings, at which time PBGC said it would take over paying the pensions once its liability was determined, it is nonetheless a relief that it appears really to be happening, Williams said.
The PBGC, which receives no tax funds, estimates that the Forum Health pension plan has $228 million in assets and $402 million in benefit promises.
Williams said Forum retirees and employees should receive letters within the next several weeks informing them what their benefits are and when they will start receiving them from PBGC.
Thomas Connelly, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2026, said the union has been asking for months for information about what was going to happen to their pensions. Local 2026 represents registered nurses at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren.
Though irked that he and his members have been unable to get definitive information from the PBGC or Forum Health, Connelly said it is a relief to have it coming to an end.
“I don’t think any of our members will be hurt. But members have delayed taking early retirement because of lack of information. I’m advising them to get all the information about their options before making a decision,” he said.
Within the next several weeks, PBGC is expected to send notification letters to all participants in the Forum Health plan.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, praised the work of the PBGC, hospital management and local labor unions to ensure that Forum’s workers can rely on the retirement benefits that they have earned and deserve.
“When a company goes out of business, there is no good news for the workers affected. But the bad news would be a lot worse without the backstop provided by the federal government’s pension guarantee, which ensures that workers and retirees will continue to have retirement security even when their employer goes under,” he said.
Community Health Services, a Tennessee-based health-care operation that bought Forum Health for $120 million in August 2010, is not liable for Forum’s pension obligations under its purchase agreement.
In general, PBGC will pay the benefit that a retiree would earn if he or she retired at age 65. There is a legal maximum of $54,000 per year for a 65-year-old, however, and lower for people who retire before 65 or choose survivor benefits, officials said.
Until Monday, retirees who get their pensions through the PBGC may have been eligible to have 80 percent of their health-plan premiums paid through the federal Health Coverage Tax Creditor. However, said a PBGC spokesman, the Health Coverage Tax Credit pays only 65 percent of the premiums beginning today because Congress did not extend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which contained the 80 percent provision.