GASB and OPEB Obligations - Proposing New Accounting Standards to Improve Transparency in Financial Reporting

• In Event: Contempary Issues in Auditing and Data Analytics

Abstract

Municipal employers are facing health insurance costs of retirees increasing more rapidly than both inflation and the overall rate of government spending. However, the important issue of reporting for Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB), which consists mostly of health care benefits, often has been overlooked. Unfunded state and city OPEB obligations may create substantial future economic burdens. This paper provides an historical perspective of GASB accounting standards relating to OPEB. Also, it presents the GASB’s two new Exposure Drafts aimed at providing more transparency and improving the accounting and financial reporting of OPEB.

Authors

• Patricia Healy, Pace University - Westchester

• Claudia Li, Pace University