GAO report highlights need for PBGC reforms

Summary:  Corporation (PBGC) insures the retirement future of nearly 44 million people in over 29,000 private-sector defined benefit pension plans.  In July 2003, GAO designated PBGC’s single-employer pension insurance program—its largest insurance program—as “high risk,” including it on GAO’s list of major programs that need urgent Congressional attention and agency action. The program remains on the list today with a financial deficit of just over $11 billion, as of September 2008. The committee asked GAO to discuss our recent work on PBGC. Specifically, this testimony addresses two issues: (1) PBGC’s financial vulnerabilities, and (2) the governance, oversight, and management challenges PBGC faces.

To address these objectives, we are relying on our prior work assessing PBGC’s long-term financial challenges, and several reports that we have published over the last two years on PBGC governance and management. GAO has made a number of recommendations and identified matters for Congressional consideration in these reports, and PBGC is implementing some of these  ecommendations. No new recommendations are being made as part of this testimony.

Full report:  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09702t.pdf