IBM moves retirees to insurance exchange

International Business Machines (IBM), faced with rising health care costs for retirees, says it will move them to a health exchange where they may have cheaper plan options, reports Business Standard. The company has chosen the Extend Health exchange by Towers Watson, the country's largest private medicare exchange, to provide more options for prescription drug, dental and vision care, the Armonk, New York-based company said in a statement. According to the report, the company has made other moves to lessen its costs for current employees. In the second quarter, IBM spent $1 billion to restructure its workforce, cutting more than 3,300 employees in the U.S. and Canada, according to Alliance@IBM, an employee group. It also required U.S. hardware division employees to take a week off with one-third of the pay.

Read the complete Business Standard report here