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AIMD-00-267R 1 (2000-08-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaalkx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I .GAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Accounting and Information Washington, DC 20548 Management Division B-285749 August 15, 2000 The Honorable William V. Roth, Jr. Chairman, Committee on Finance United States Senate Subject: Analysis of the Administration's Proposal to Ensure Solvency of the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund Dear Mr. Chairman: In your March 9, 2000, letter you asked us to review the administration's proposal to ensure the solvency of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit Fund. Specifically, you asked that we analyze the impact of the administration's proposal to (1) extend the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AML) fees, (2) reverse the effects of National Coal v. Chater (National Coal), (3) reverse the effects of Dixie Fuel Company v. Social Security Administration (Dixie Fuel), and (4) appropriate federal funds. In addition, you asked that we provide some general background information on the operations, governance structure, benefit structure, and historical and projected financial position of the Fund. As you know, in 1992, more than 100,000 UMWA retirees and their dependents were in danger of losing their health benefits. The Congress responded by enacting the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act (P.L. 102-486), which established the Combined Benefit Fund (Fund') to pay these health benefits. More recently, the Fund has been experiencing financial difficulties due to rising costs and a financing mechanism that has been negatively affected by recent court decisions. In November 1999, the Congress responded to the Fund's financial difficulties by appropriating to the Fund $68 million in interest from the AML Fund in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-113). To provide the information you requested and address your specific questions, we (1) interviewed fund officials and other affected parties, (2) examined applicable statutes and regulations, and (3) reviewed the Fund's audited financial statements and actuarial projections. We did not independently verify underlying data or 'The Fund is a multi-employer plan as defined by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 106 and has annual audits by independent auditors, which include actuarial projections of the Fund's unfunded liability. GAO/AIMD-00-267R United Mine Workers of America

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