Kraft Heinz to shift some retirees to private exchange
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The Kraft Heinz Co. will stop offering employer-sponsored health coverage to some of its retirees at the end of this year.
About 15,000 of the Pittsburgh-based food manufacturer's Medicare-eligible retirees will instead be able to buy Medicare coverage through Towers Watson & Co.'s private OneExchange platform, a Kraft Heinz spokesman said in an email Thursday.
The spokesman said the retirees will have more Medicare plan options than previously offered through Kraft Heinz's employer-sponsored retiree group plan, which will end Dec. 31.
“These retirees will have a selection of health plans that provide equal or better benefits than our group coverage, at a similar or even lower cost,” the spokesman said.
Kraft Heinz will provide subsidies to retirees' health reimbursement arrangements determined by the current cost of the plan, Kraft Heinz' current subsidy, and the effect to the retiree over five to 10 years, the spokesman said.
The spokesman did not say how much of the premium costs Kraft Heinz currently pays for retirees.
Retirees who now are paying the full cost of health coverage will not receive subsidies on the exchange, he said.
