The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) prohibits
employers from discriminating against any individual with respect to
"compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges or employment, because
of such individual's age." Protected individuals include retired
employees. Since the enactment of the Older Workers Benefit Protection
Act of 1990 (OWBPA), this prohibition has extended to employer-provided
medical benefits. In the past, many employers relied on legislative
history to OWBPA which appeared to indicate that eliminating, reducing,
or altering employer-sponsored retiree medical benefits when an
individual us eligible for Medicare as being permissible under ADEA.
