Can PBGC Save Multiemployer Plans?

The brief’s key findings are:

• Participants in multiemployer pension plans have their benefits insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

• However, the PBGC’s guaranteed benefit levels are very low compared to single employer plans.

• Of greater concern, the PBGC’s insurance fund for multiemployer plans is projected to be exhausted within the next 10 years.

• One idea is to head off plan insolvencies through “partitions” that transfer some costs to the PBGC, but little support exists for hiking premiums to cover the costs.

• The bottom line is that the PBGC, as currently structured, will not be able to stave off plan insolvencies or fully protect workers in plans that become insolvent.