The White House announced Tuesday that it would help pay medical bills for early retirees who have health insurance provided by their former employers. Under the program, the federal government can reimburse employers for 80 percent of the cost of claims from $15,000 to $90,000 a year for a retired worker who is 55 or older and not eligible for Medicare.

The program will run from June 1 of this year to Jan. 1, 2014, when many early retirees will be able to enroll in health plans offered through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges. John J. Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, which represents large employers, welcomed the new program, saying it would make health benefits “more affordable for employers and early retirees and their families.” Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, predicted that 4,500 employers — 3,000 private entities and 1,500 state and local governments — would seek federal aid under the program.

Employers can apply through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Applications will be available by the end of June 2010.

The federal aid will be available to private employers, state and local governments, nonprofit and religious organizations and labor unions that sponsor health benefit plans. It will be available to employers who pay premiums to insure early retirees, as well as to employers who assume the risk themselves and pay claims with their own assets. Under the new law, employers must use the federal money to reduce “health benefit costs” for themselves or their retirees — for example, by reducing premiums, deductibles or co-payments. As a condition receiving federal aid, employers must maintain their current contributions to the cost of retiree health benefits. Many companies expected to apply for the new program already receive federal subsidies under a 2003 law to help offset the cost of providing prescription drug benefits to retirees, Ms. Sebelius said.

Edited from the New York Times, May 7, 2010