The lesson to be learned here and applied to your pre- and postretirement preparation is that you must plan for as many contingencies as possible…more in my blog

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting

diogenes @ 96

Here’s how the UAW VEBA at Caterpillar worked out.

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash…..=autonews2

As the story to which you link makes abundantly clear, the VEBA at Cat was underfunded from day one. Why do you assume that the UAW won’t learn from that mistake?

I base it on my experience as a union activist. I spent about as much time trying to convince our leadership to be responsive to the membership, as I did representing the members against a very anti-union management.

As to a specific answer: there is no way to design a sound investment vehicle that will maintain pace with medical inflation. IF UAW did not negotiate an ample replenishment from GM, they’re toast.

I read somewhere UAW is projecting this VEBA has funding that will see them thru the next 80 years. I hope they’re right.

what IS insurance?

It means I can pay my bills.

If I don’t get the bills and they go to the government…then I don’t NEED insurance.

I don’t get a bill for the sidewalk I walk on or the street I drive on.

Oh yes you do — they’re called taxes.

Most cities and states have income taxes, and WRT “the street you drive on” there’s a little thing known as the “gasoline tax.”

You’re so used to paying them, you don’t think about what they pay for!

EPU’d from last night and still OT but very hot in the Net Neutrality arena:

Verizon blocks text messaging program from NARAL

I know NARAL is not the most favored group here at the lake but this is a much bigger issue. We need to get on the horn to our Senators/Reps to make this sort of thing illegal. We also need to apply pressure to Verizon.

Totally Unaceptable

Verizon reverses on abortion rights messaging

Verizon Wireless said on Thursday it reversed an earlier refusal to allow an abortion rights advocacy group to set up a text message alert system with subscribers and changed its policy on such messaging.

No, but have dealt with insurance companies. Doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers are necessary. Health insurance companies are expendable. Cut-out the middleman.

Scarecrow @ 64

Zennurse – I agree that there has to be a transition, and people have to buy in as we go. My concern was that Clinton/Edwards/Obama seemed to define the boundary of the debate — so no one had to listen to ideas outside that boundary. It needed to be expanded.

and I agree. I was singularly unimpressed by both Obama and Clinton last night. Obama was just generally weak, and Hillary’s laughter at other candidates was derogatory and self-righteous(remember, no visuals). There is generally very little light between the 4 bigger (C, O, B, E) candidates IMO.

In terms of the questions, I was just insulted by the Bible verse question and was hoping that one of them would quote Buddha. I’d be interested to know how the students at Dartmouth read it.

Yes, that question was offensive; it implies if your favorite “verse” is not from the Bible, you’re not qualified to be President.

Scarecrow,

As you correctly note, the devil will surely be in the details. However, we can make a few educated guesses.

1. I assume that the “trust” set up to fund the plan will qualify as a VEBA, and will therefore be exempt from Federal income tax on its earnings under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(9). There may need to be a legislative change in Michigan to provide it with an similar exemption from Michigan’d odd new substitute for a traditional income tax. Absent such tax exemptions, one wonders how the numbers could ever work.

2. It seems clear that the investment performance of the trust will be a critical determinant of the success of the plan. One wonders whether the trustees will come under pressure from the union to make “socially responsible” investment decisions, and whether they will have the stones to resist such pressures and always act in the best interests of the plan participants.. . .

The long run viability of the trust and its management are of course critical. That’s why I think the size of this thing matters — and ultimately, the size should be the US taxpaying public, so that the trust is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the US Treasury. — again, I’m not advocating company-specific trusts per se; it’s the larger concept I’m interested in as a way of opening the debate to public vs private funding.