NFL, Union to Pay $100 a Month for Retiree Insurance

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=a0IVGBNakLRA&refer=home

By Aaron Kuriloff

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The National Football League and its players union agreed to pay some retired players $100 a month toward health insurance more than a year after congressional hearings into how the league treats its former players.

The program will begin paying the money toward the monthly premium for plans that supplement U.S. government-funded Medicare coverage, beginning Jan. 1, 2009, the league and union said in a news release.

The agreement comes after former players including Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and Gale Sayers told U.S. lawmakers that the NFL and union need to fix the system for helping retired players who suffer from disabilities such as dementia and short-term memory loss caused by their time on the field.

“Most of these football players get a pension of less than $25,000 a year,” Bruce Laird, a former Baltimore Colts safety who is an activist on behalf of retired players, said in an interview. “The disability system has been broken for 25 years.”

Retired players said in a recent survey that the league and union could help with health-care costs by contributing to expenses not covered by Medicare, the release said. The new program will be available to retired players 65 or older who are vested in the league’s retirement plan.

“It has become clear from my recent discussions with retired players that health-care insurance is a priority for them,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in the release.

FULL story at link.