Many Americans, including many seniors, receive their prescription medications through the mail. That is why it’s good news that legislation to overhaul the Postal Service’s finances and operations passed through the House recently.
According to the Postal Service, without congressional action, the agency will run out of funds for operational expenses by the 2023 fiscal year, and its fund for retiree health benefits will be depleted by the 2030 fiscal year.
The legislation puts the Postal Service on a much sounder fiscal basis by eliminating the pre-funding requirement of retirement benefits, arguing the Postal Service was burdened with an expensive mandate not imposed on other agencies.
Among its provisions, the bill would require Postal Service retirees to enroll in Medicare and eliminates the requirement that the agency prefund its retiree health benefits for 75 years in the future, saving the beleaguered agency tens of billions of dollars over the next decade. The legislation has bi-partisan support in the Senate and is expected to pass soon.
How the Medicare enrollment mandate will affect the fiscal health of Medicare was not addressed in the announcement but clearly, Congress must address that issue very soon.
