Retirees’ Health Costs Loom Over U.A.W. Talks - New York Times

the other issue not discussed in this article is what if one or all of them goes out of business? Or goes into bankruptcy and sheds its pensions to the U.S. taxpayer? It's a real possibility given what Big Steel and the Legacy Airlines have done. It may not happen next year, but it could happen in 5-10 years. Who's on the hook then? We, the taxpayer, will have to pay it somehow.

The pain of losing benefits for retirees is a real heart breaker. There may not be a good solution without a Federal bailout, but does that make sense? What about a National Health Care plan? Would that solve many of their problems? If it were setup right, we could have a pretty good system that would remove much of the risks to large corporations and still deliver good service. Is it better to bailout pensions of the few in order to keep health care the way it is now?