“Measure It Before You Promise It” for GASB 45 OPEB

Over the past several years, GASB 45 has required public employers to recognize the cost of Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB: e.g., retiree health insurance, life insurance) while employees are accruing the benefits, not after they retire. For many public entities, the true cost of their healthcare promises has been an eye opener.

However, public employers (especially local entities) should remember that GASB-type calculations are valuable in the “off-season” too. This post discusses one of the biggest missed opportunities for cost-saving: Measuring the cost impact of changes to retiree OPEB before contracts are signed.

In the corporate world, it is almost unheard of for employers to adjust their retiree benefit promises without first measuring the cost impact. This is especially true of collectively-bargained pension and retiree health plans. Both sides hire an actuary to estimate the cost of these benefits and bring their numbers to the table.

However, many local public entities may not be used to this process yet. During the biennial GASB 45 valuation process, we still encounter contractual changes to retiree benefits that occurred after the prior actuarial study but were not reported to us in the interim. There are two main problems with this approach:

1. It’s not prudent to make or change benefit promises without estimating the cost impact. Suppose an employer is renegotiating a contract and there is a proposal to change the retiree health benefit from “fully-paid single premiums until age 65” to “fully-paid family premiums for up to 5 years”. Is this a cost increase or decrease? There’s no way to know unless you measure the cost beforehand.

2. GASB 45 requires a full actuarial valuation if there is a significant change in benefit promises.  As we discussed in a previous post, public employers shouldn’t wait until the next scheduled actuarial study (2 or 3 years, depending on plan size) to reflect significant plan changes in their financial statements.

As public employers get acquainted with valuing the actuarial cost of their OPEB benefits for GASB 45 financials, they should embrace the philosophy of “measure it before you promise it” for any changes to these benefits. Public sector OPEB are becoming front page news and administrators must proceed cautiously when adjusting benefits or making new promises.