# Why does the USPS make prepayments? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199 "2013-10-02T18:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/21 "2013-10-03T02:30:19Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Flag on the play. > > Not that I disagree with a bit of your analysis, Doc. But the info about UPS and Fedex isn’t quite so cut and dried. > > UPS top recipent by donation (last election cycle): > > 1. Barack Obama (57K) > 2. Mitt Romney ($43K) > 3. NRCC ($38.5K) > 4. DSCC ($32K) > 5. Rep State Leadership Cmte ($31K) > > Fedex top recipient by donation (last election cycle): > > 1. NRSC ($152K) > 2. Mitt Romney ($109) > 3. RNC ($80K) > 4. NRCC ($56K) > 5. Barack Obama ($42k) > > Now, the data for Fedex is clearer, but it’s not entirely skewed to the red side. Both are doing what any reasonable donor at that level should do: keeping their options open. It was clear early on (to me, at least) that Obama would win in 2012 so you see that even Fedex - with a strong R lean - wanted to at least make sure to get a few calls returned from OFA over the next four years. > > To say that UPS is a heavy R donor simply isn’t true. They appear to be very ecumenical. > > You are, however, damn straight skippy about the American Postal Worker’s Union. They money they give goes to their friends. However, they funnel most of it through three campaign committees: AFL-CIO Workers Voices, House Majority, and the oracularly named Majority PAC. Still, I wouldn’t doubt your take on it. > > . All right, good points. UPS then appears slightly tilted to GOP, but FedEx is pretty strongly GOP. They also spent a scad on lobbying, esp on the H.R.658: Orphan Earmarks Act. [http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000089](http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000089) In any case, the GOP wants the American Postal Worker’s Union out of business. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/22 "2013-10-03T08:07:18Z")
And there are quite a few of us who wouldn’t be terribly upset were Darryl Issa to DIAF. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/23 "2013-10-03T12:31:20Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > And there are quite a few of us who wouldn’t be terribly upset were Darryl Issa to DIAF. It doesn’t HAVE to be a fire, if another method is more likely and/or convenient. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/24 "2013-10-03T13:04:06Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I think it is a correct description, and that the only reason a deficit exists is the pension requirements. > > From your link: > > If it were not for the political requirement imposed by Congress, the USPS would be running in the black. And all of their operating revenue must come from operations rather than tax money. > > Obliging the USPS to take on prepayments not required by any other department and of a magnitude that is unique - 75 years! - and not used by any private businesses is a political decision. I cannot figure out any reason for putting impossible and unique burdens on an operation unless they are designed to break it. > > Remove the prepayments and the USPS is profitable. It has worked to improve its internal operations, despite the active opposition of Congress whenever it tries to cut services like an ordinary business. You cannot simultaneously blame it for not being sufficiently lean while keeping it from doing so. The concept of equal access to mail delivery by every person in the country is a marvelous example of what government can and should mean. What do you gain from actively impeding that? I don’t know, but I know that there is no rational reason so it must be political. Pension benefits are a real expense. Excluding one expense and saying that if it was not for that the USPS would be profitable is true but meaningless. The USPS has negotiated pension benefits with its unions and can either pay them out of current revenues, pre-pay, or default. The problem with paying them out of current revenues is that revenue has been declining since 1998 and there is no way the revenues in the next ten years are going to be able to cover the pension promises. Thus the alternatives are to pre-pay as much as possible or default. Either the taxpayers are going to have to pay for the pensions shortfall, or the retirees are going to have to take less. The retirees have a better union so I think the odds are that most of the shortfall will fall on the taxpayers. Thus congress tried to limit as much as possible the future liability their constituents have. That is not a conspiracy, that is foresight. The problem the USPS has is political. They are required by law not to raise prices more than inflation, but their primary expenses, labor and fuel are rising. Meanwhile, email has destroyed their primary business line. They are unable to close poor performing branches without permission of congress, yet congress has every incentive to require them to keep them open. Their business model is unsustainable. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/25 "2013-10-03T14:04:52Z")
The point is that a real business makes decisions about how to fund its business and the mechanisms by which they report that funding. Private companies play accounting tricks every day of the year to make their bottom lines look better. I disagree that Congress simply limited future liability as a positive. They could change the requirement to something reasonable and in line with other companies without any danger to the taxpayers. If they made the time period, say, 50\* years tomorrow the USPS would suddenly be in the black and we wouldn’t be having this discussion but nothing else would change. That’s a political decision, not a business one. \*made-up number ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/26 "2013-10-03T14:07:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Remove the prepayments and the USPS is profitable. Prepayments don’t have anything to do with profitability. They are strictly a cash flow issue. The USPS is incurring an expense by compensating their employees with the promise of future health care and pensions. That is on the balance sheet regardless of whether the USPS puts aside money to pay that expense or not. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/27 "2013-10-03T14:18:20Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > They are unable to close poor performing branches without permission of congress, yet congress has every incentive to require them to keep them open. Their business model is unsustainable. What is a “poor performing branch” of the post office? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/28 "2013-10-03T14:19:23Z")
OK, so I can see how prepayments can make sense… But why 75 years? Wouldn’t it make more sense just to pre-pay, say, their current employees? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/29 "2013-10-03T14:21:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It has worked to improve its internal operations, despite the active opposition of Congress whenever it tries to cut services like an ordinary business. You cannot simultaneously blame it for not being sufficiently lean while keeping it from doing so. One of the arguments against the efficiency of government-run services is their susceptibility to political intervention. Now, in terms of the funding of employees not yet born, it’s a ridiculous argument since the meddling has no other political purpose other than to bring down the USPS. But the keeping open of unprofitable postal centers/limiting delivery schedules is another story. One could argue that it is a governmental duty to keep them open, but that does nothing to argue for its efficiency. I don’t think the argument is that all postal _employees and administrators_ are inefficient, rather that the system as a whole is. I don’t buy it myself: the system would be in the black if not for the completely onerous and arbitary prefunding requirements. But it is not necessarily always a losing argument to point to political interference when claiming that a governmental service is inefficient, because that’s one way in which they are claimed to be inefficient. But I would be interested in examples of individual congresspeople who are against the USPS as a whole but fought to keep their local branches open. That would be some juicy hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/30 "2013-10-03T14:36:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, so I can see how prepayments can make sense… But why 75 years? Wouldn’t it make more sense just to pre-pay, say, their current employees? I’m not sure where 75 years comes from. My understanding is that they are doing exactly what you say makes sense. They are supposed to accumulate enough assets by 2017 to pay for the pension benefits they are currently obligated to pay. After then, they are supposed to put aside enough money each year to pay for pension obligations that they incur in that year. The best way to look at it is that for decades the Post Office has been paying it’s employees X dollars per year and giving them an IOU for Y dollars. Prepayments are putting money in an account to pay those IOUs. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/31 "2013-10-03T14:40:47Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t think the argument is that all postal _employees and administrators_ are inefficient, rather that the system as a whole is. ETA: which isn’t to say that many people don’t blame mostly the workers (and their unions) for the inefficiency. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/32 "2013-10-03T14:54:30Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I’m not sure where 75 years comes from. It comes from a [law](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/). > [@](#): > > At the very end of that year, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Under PAEA, USPS was forced to “prefund its future health care benefit payments to retirees for the next 75 years in an astonishing ten-year time span” — meaning that it had to put aside billions of dollars to pay for the health benefits of employees it hasn’t even hired yet, something “that no other government or private corporation is required to do.” > > As consumer advocate Ralph Nader noted, if PAEA was never enacted, USPS would actually be facing a $1.5 billion surplus today: > > > [@Nader](#): > > > > By June 2011, the USPS saw a total net deficit of $19.5 billion, $12.7 billion of which was borrowed money from Treasury (leaving just $2.3 billion left until the USPS hits its statutory borrowing limit of $15 billion). This $19.5 billion deficit almost exactly matches the $20.95 billion the USPS made in prepayments to the fund for future retiree health care benefits by June 2011. If the prepayments required under PAEA were never enacted into law, the USPS would not have a net deficiency of nearly $20 billion, but instead be in the black by at least $1.5 billion. That’s a progressive site, but those facts appear accurate. > [@](#): > > They are supposed to accumulate enough assets by 2017 to pay for the pension benefits they are currently obligated to pay. After then, they are supposed to put aside enough money each year to pay for pension obligations that they incur in that year. This is wrong, according to that article. If they could do this, there would be no crisis. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/33 "2013-10-03T15:32:38Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It comes from a [law](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/28/330524/postal-non-crisis-post-office-save-itself/). > > That’s a progressive site, but those facts appear accurate. > > This is wrong, according to that article. If they could do this, there would be no crisis. I looked at the actual law and it says > [@](#): > > Not later than June 30, 2007, and by June 30 of each succeeding year, the Office shall compute the net present value of the future payments required under section 8906(g)(2)(A) and attributable to the service of Postal Service employees during the most recently ended fiscal year. > [@](#): > > `(B) Not later than September 30, 2017, and by September 30 of each succeeding year, the United States Postal Service shall pay into such Fund the sum of– > > ``` > `(i) the net present value computed under paragraph (1); and > > `(ii) any annual installment computed under paragraph (2)(B). > > ``` > **[Text of H.R. 6407 (109th): Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (Passed...](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407/text)** > > Text of H.R. 6407 (109th): Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act as of Dec 19, 2006 (Passed Congress version). H.R. 6407 (109th): Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act It doesn’t say anything about 75 years. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/34 "2013-10-03T15:45:16Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > What is a “poor performing branch” of the post office? Presumably that would be the branches which don’t meet a threshold ratio of customers to population density in the zip code(s) represented. There are lots of small post offices in cities, especially, that are no longer convenient thanks to limited hours, location, lack of parking, and the like. Some close for 75 minutes midday because they have only one worker and they need a lunch break. The sad thing is that the people who most use those branches are the ones for whom it would be difficult to get to others. But that’s the case for pretty much any poor performing retail/service location. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/35 "2013-10-03T16:13:06Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I looked at the actual law and it says > > [Text of H.R. 6407 (109th): Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (Passed Congress version) - GovTrack.us](http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr6407/text) > > It doesn’t say anything about 75 years. You accidentally missed quoting part of the law, let me fill that in for you. > [@](#): > > `(3)(A) The United States Postal Service shall pay into such Fund– > > ``` > `(i) $5,400,000,000, not later than September 30, 2007; > > `(ii) $5,600,000,000, not later than September 30, 2008; > > `(iii) $5,400,000,000, not later than September 30, 2009; > > `(iv) $5,500,000,000, not later than September 30, 2010; > > `(v) $5,500,000,000, not later than September 30, 2011; > > `(vi) $5,600,000,000, not later than September 30, 2012; > > `(vii) $5,600,000,000, not later than September 30, 2013; > > `(viii) $5,700,000,000, not later than September 30, 2014; > > `(ix) $5,700,000,000, not later than September 30, 2015; and > > `(x) $5,800,000,000, not later than September 30, 2016. > > ``` > > `(B) Not later than September 30, 2017, and by September 30 of each succeeding year, the United States Postal Service shall pay into such Fund the sum of– > > ``` > `(i) the net present value computed under paragraph (1); and > > `(ii) any annual installment computed under paragraph (2)(B). > > ``` It’s only $56 billion you skipped over, I’m sure it’s nothing. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/36 "2013-10-03T16:56:42Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > You accidentally missed quoting part of the law, let me fill that in for you. It’s only $56 billion you skipped over, I’m sure it’s nothing. What in the world are you talking about? I didn’t skip over it. What you quoted is the part of the law that says: > [@treis](#): > > They are supposed to accumulate enough assets by 2017 to pay for the pension benefits they are currently obligated to pay. That $56 billion is an estimate of the net present value of future obligations that the USPS will have in 2017. In other words, it’s a savings account to pay the IOUs the USPS has already written. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/37 "2013-10-03T17:01:21Z")
I don’t see where the 75 year number comes from. This doesn’t necessarily mean the implication is not there, but let’s assume that’s wrong. I also described the liability earlier as pensions: it is health care. My mistake. If the sources are wrong, then let’s dismiss them and use just what I can find in the law, which is that the amortization is to be calculated over a 40-year period, starting in 2017, though. Section 8309a: > [@](#): > > (B) Not later than June 30, 2017, the Office shall compute, and by June 30 of each succeeding year shall recompute, a schedule including a series of annual installments which provide for the liquidation of any liability or surplus by September 30, 2056, or within 15 years, whichever is later, of the net present value determined under subparagraph (A), including interest at the rate used in that computation. I also found [Final Management Advisory Report – Estimates of Postal Service Liability for Retiree Health Care Benefits (Report Number ESS-MA-09-001(R))]]([http://www.uspsoig.gov/foia\_files/ess-ma-09-001r.pdf‎](http://www.uspsoig.gov/foia_files/ess-ma-09-001r.pdf%E2%80%8E)), a pdf of an official report analyzing the numbers. > [@](#): > > The work of U.S Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) actuarial consultant, Hay Group, determined that the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) assumption that the annual health care cost inflation rate will average 7 percent annually for all future years is unreasonably high. Therefore based on OPM’s assumptions and methodology, the Postal Service’s future retiree health care liabilities will be overestimated. > > If the Postal Service continues the payment schedule required by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (the Act), our calculations indicate that the Postal Service could overfund its retiree health care liability by $13.2 billion by the end of fiscal year 2016. The Postal Service could pay on average $4.0 billion less each year from FYs 2009 to 2016 to prefund its retiree health benefits and still achieve the same level of funding anticipated under OPM’s assumptions. The net present value of the interest savings from the reduced payments is $5.95 billion. We will report the $5.95 billion monetary impact as funds put to better use1 in our Semiannual Report to Congress. See Appendix B for our detailed analysis of this topic, Appendix C for our detailed analysis of the monetary impact, and Appendix E for the Hay Group report. (The Hay Group report deals with the general issue of funding the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) and addresses a wide range of related subjects.) I suppose that they could have cooked the numbers to come out with the ones the USPS wanted. But we have to base the discussion on something tangible, so that’s a place to start. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/38 "2013-10-03T17:27:36Z")
> [@](#): > > The nation’s health spending will bump up next year as the Affordable Care Act expands insurance coverage to more Americans, and then will grow by an average of 6.2 percent a year over the next decade, according to projections by government actuaries. > **[Health Care Costs Are Projected To Outpace Economic Growth](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/09/18/223812518/health-care-costs-projected-to-outpace-economic-growth/)** > > Though the Obama administration says that the nation is entering a new era of lower health care spending, an analysis from the agency that oversees Medicare says probably not. Those economists say that health spending will escalate as the economy... If you look at page 8 of that pdf you linked to, in 2016 the USPS will have an unfunded liability of $26 billion if health care increases 7% per year and a surplus of $13 billion if it only increases by 5%. So if I’m reading that right, it looks like the funding requirement seems to be reasonably close to expected future expenses. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/39 "2013-10-03T19:27:18Z")
> [@treis](#): > > [Health Care Costs Are Projected To Outpace Economic Growth : Shots - Health News : NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/09/18/223812518/health-care-costs-projected-to-outpace-economic-growth) > > If you look at page 8 of that pdf you linked to, in 2016 the USPS will have an unfunded liability of $26 billion if health care increases 7% per year and a surplus of $13 billion if it only increases by 5%. So if I’m reading that right, it looks like the funding requirement seems to be reasonably close to expected future expenses. Healthcare costs increased an average of 8.1% from 1980 to 2009. They are currently growing much slower than that but no one know if that will continue or if it will revert to trend. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199/40 "2013-10-03T19:54:14Z")
I was just reading about this yesterday, so I’m glad this thread popped up. The part I’m really fuzzy on, is what the USPS was doing wrong with its accounting that got Issa all fired up to go after them as part of his anti-government jihad. They were handling healthcare on their own, but then politics happened and that was taken over by a different agency, and the way that agency does things led to Issa forcing them to pre-pay 75 years’ worth of healthcare benefits. Since then, they’ve undertaken cost-cutting measures etc. and they’re profitable if we don’t count the prepayments. Issa also passed laws handicapping the USPS so they can’t adapt to the changing market, for instance by forbidding them from engaging in modern e-commerce type services their competitors use. It sounds to me as if the USPS can survive these onerous prepayments for the ten years, it would be just fine. On top of that, they have lots of plans for improving, but they can’t do anything while Issa holds the leash. Or noose, perhaps. So, loosen up on the prepayments, maybe extend them out longer or at least give them a one year’s postponement or something, and give them the same operational freedom other companies enjoy. On another note, how does the ACA affect the USPS’s health plans? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-usps-make-prepayments/670199.md?page=3)