The UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust (the “Trust”) provides health care benefits for retired UAW members of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, along with their eligible dependents. This arrangement was made possible through a provision in the 2007 collective bargaining agreements between the UAW and the three auto companies; under which all of the retiree health care liabilities were transferred to a new independent Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA). The federal courts approved this agreement in a class action settlement.

Although the Trust administers the health care plans covering retirees from all three auto companies, there is a separate trust fund that pays benefits for retirees from each company. Each trust fund has tax exempt status as a VEBA under section 501(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code.  

The Trust is governed by an 11 person Committee of Directors. Five of the Directors are appointed by the UAW; the other six are independent of the UAW and were approved by the federal district court as part of the class action settlements.

When the Trust launched in January 2010, it became the largest non-governmental purchaser of retiree health care in the United States, covering over 860,000 persons.