He is currently the President of Smith Enterprises, a government and public relations consulting group.

Already, nearly half of companies offer these funds in their plans, according to a national survey completed in June and released last month by Wells Fargo's employee benefits consulting group.

"What you're seeing now are ad hoc arrangements," said Eric Lofgren, global director of the benefits consulting group at Watson Wyatt.

"The current track is toward crisis and disaster," said Eric Lofgren of Watson Wyatt's benefits consulting group, who has followed trends in retiree medical benefits for more than a decade.

Also in 2007, Chen formed her own marketing communications consulting group, Chen Communications LLC.

"They would typically receive prescription drug benefits, preventive care and often coverage for hearing aids and eyeglasses," said Joseph Martingale, a principal with the Towers Perrin benefits consulting group.

Based in Chicago, IL, Salvi Sports Enterprises is a multi-faceted sports consulting group that provides strategic planning and consulting within the minor league sports world.

Eric Lofgren, the director of the benefits consulting group at the management consulting firm of Watson Wyatt Worldwide, contended that the problem is rare.

Eileen Canty, an organizational psychologist at William M. Mercer, a human resources consulting group in New York, said that they were easy to spot.

The new owners hired radio consultant Lee Abrams of the Burkhart-Abrams consulting group to advise the station on what direction to take.