Multiemployer plans with the biggest deficits have taken significant steps to address their funding problems, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and while some plans expected improved financial health, some did not.

A recent survey of multiemployer plans found that the majority of the most severely underfunded plans had developed plans to increase employer contributions or reduce certain participant benefits. In some cases, these measures will have significant impacts on employers and participants.

One plan representative stated that contribution increases had damaged some firms' competitive position in the industry. Similarly, reductions or limitations on certain benefits–such as disability benefits–may create hardships for some older workers, such as those with physically demanding jobs. Most of the 107 surveyed plans expected to emerge from critical status, but about 26 percent did not and instead seek to delay eventual insolvency.