Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Harvard's Health

Boo-hoo-hoo!

"Retiree expenses constrain colleges; Health benefits near $1 billion for Harvard" by Beth Healy,  Globe Staff / March 28, 2011

Harvard and other top universities are grappling with the same problem many states and cities are confronting: how to pay for health benefits they have promised to retirees.

Harvard’s liability for medical coverage will approach $1 billion next year, exceeding the obligations of a mid-size city. And like many local governments, elite schools could face a host of difficult choices as they try to meet these obligations, from reneging on promised benefits and cutting spending to raising tuition.  

Look, I have my own problems -- and I'm not sitting on a $25-30 BILLION dollar endowment.

“They’re going to have to get out of that business,’’ said Joseph Mercurio, executive vice president of Boston University, which does not have a retiree medical plan. “It’s just too expensive.’’  

Who would want to work at Harvard anyway?

A Globe review of financial reports at numerous private and public schools showed that retiree health benefit liabilities, which have received relatively little public attention, are enormous. In fiscal 2010, Harvard University’s obligation for retiree medical benefits exceeded its pension obligations for the first time.

Daniel S. Shore, Harvard’s chief financial officer, acknowledged the growing liability.... 

That's when I asked myself why am I reading this? 

Who gives a f*** about Harvard and their problems?

--more--"  

Obviously, the Globe does by giving it the right-hand corner lead that day.

Another front-page special I won't be reading:

Harvard helps retired leaders find new purpose

Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative is a yearlong fellowship for people with 20 or more years of leadership experience who, instead of retiring, want to spend the next phase of their lives starting socially conscious ventures....  

Harvard: where globalists train the next crop of leaders. 

No wonder the world is in such pitiful condition.