Under pressure from foreign competitors with lower labor costs, big companies have become more willing to pare away workers' health care and pensions, abandoning an informal social contract that existed for much of the 20th century. To do so without stirring the ire of the rank and file, companies have essentially tried to turn the responsibility for some of these benefits over to the government.
See "The New Corporate Outsourcing", Clifford J. Levy, The New York Times, January 29, 2006