Intermountain Health freezes pension plans

What does it mean for employees?

Jan. 29, 2026 at 5:15pm

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Intermountain Health, a major healthcare provider in the western U.S., has announced plans to freeze its long-running pension program, citing ongoing financial pressures, lower government payments, inflation, and market volatility. The decision impacts about a third of the company's over 68,000 employees across six states.

Why it matters

Intermountain Health has been one of the few holdouts in the healthcare industry, which has largely moved away from defined-benefit pension plans to defined-contribution 401(k) plans in recent decades. This decision reflects broader trends in the private sector as companies seek to reduce costs and transfer more retirement planning responsibility to employees.

The details

Intermountain Health's pension plan dates back to the company's founding in 1975. In the early 1990s, the company began offering both a pension plan and a 401(k) plan, but the pension option was closed to new employees in 2020. Currently, only about a third of Intermountain's workforce is eligible for pension benefits. The company says it will protect the pension benefits that eligible employees have already earned, which will continue to earn interest until payout. Intermountain will redirect some of the savings from the pension freeze to enhance its 401(k) plan, including a new 2% automatic retirement contribution, as well as a new Retiree Medical Savings Account.

  • Intermountain Health's pension plan was launched in 1975.
  • The pension option was closed to new employees in 2020.
  • The pension plan freeze will take effect on December 31, 2026.

The players

Intermountain Health

A nonprofit healthcare organization that operates 33 hospitals and over 400 clinics in six western U.S. states.

David McEntire

A senior financial planner for Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators, who provided expert commentary on the differences between defined-benefit pension plans and defined-contribution 401(k) plans.

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What they’re saying

“In a defined benefit plan, the employer makes all of the contributions and they take on all of the investment risk with the expectation that (the employee) has a guaranteed payout when they reach retirement. In a defined contribution plan, the majority of the contribution is coming from the participant or employee with some matching contributions, in some cases, from the employer. And in the defined contribution, the employee is taking on all of the investment risk.”

— David McEntire, Senior Financial Planner, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

What’s next

Intermountain Health says it will offer a series of financial planning webinars, one-on-one retirement consultations, and other support services to help employees transition from the frozen pension plan to the enhanced 401(k) plan.

The takeaway

Intermountain Health's decision to freeze its pension plan reflects a broader industry-wide shift away from defined-benefit retirement plans, as companies seek to reduce costs and transfer more retirement planning responsibility to employees. This change will have a significant impact on thousands of Intermountain employees, who now face the challenge of adapting their retirement strategies to the new 401(k)-focused model.