- within Compliance topic(s)
Originally appeared in Labor and Employment Newsletter - February 2002
Bowing to criticism from employers and employee groups, the EEOC officially rescinded its policy concerning the application of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") to employer-sponsored retiree health benefit plans from its Compliance Manual. The unpopular policy guidance provided that employee benefit plans that end or are reduced upon the employee’s eligibility for Medicare violate the ADEA. Critics of the EEOC’s policy expressed concern that the policy discouraged employers from providing valuable retiree health plans, such as those offering extended health care coverage in the form of a Medicare bridge. In revoking the policy, the EEOC announced that it would seek to develop a new policy, consistent with the ADEA, that does not discourage employers from providing such plans.
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