According to the HR Policy Association (citing a study by the Employment Policy Foundation) twenty Fortune 1000 companies are expected to account for almost half of the total health care liability of all the Fortune 1000 (half a TRILLION dollars) by 2008. The total retiree health liability in these 20 companies exceeds the total stockholder equity in them! According to the HR Policy Association “the study of Fortune 1000 companies indicates that almost half (487) provide retiree medical coverage and that the current $470 billion liability for future costs for these companies is projected to nearly double by 2008. Moreover, the current liability amounts to 11 percent of the combined stockholder equity of the companies. Interestingly, a disproportionate share of the liability is held by twenty companies, accounting for 49 percent of the total. Among these companies, the retiree health liability exceeds the total stockholder equity in the companies”
