As companies cut pensions and retiree medical coverage, many aging employees doubt they can afford to retire, several experts and workers say.

Public employers are more likely than most industries to offer health benefits, but the prevalence of retiree coverage in general has been declining.

Motorola, for example, "expects to continue retiree medical coverage, but only for employees who retired before 2002," said Randy Johnson, a human resources director.

Some companies have announced that they will eliminate retiree coverage.

But Silicon Valley technology companies that do not have or need retiree coverage are wary of new taxpayer-financed subsidies.

Lucent, for one, was able to use the ample excess in its pension plans to purchase retiree coverage, even as the company's overall finances sagged.

It eliminated company-subsidized retiree medical coverage for employees hired after Jan. 1, 1999.

Even large businesses, he noted, are dropping retiree medical coverage.

For example, only in some states do teachers now participate in the Social Security program or have retiree medical coverage.

Even if employers drop their retiree coverage, many will probably wait a year or two after 2006, experts say.