Pension and health benefits may suffer for auto retirees under bankruptcy

As the Obama administration prepares to send Chrysler into bankruptcy court, with General Motors possibly to follow, the automakers' current and future retirees could see their pensions and healthcare funds slashed by tens of billions of dollars. GM owes $20 billion to its union retiree health fund, and Chrysler owes $10 billion to its fund. In a bankruptcy, at least a portion of those company debts could be extinguished, leaving the retiree health funds with significant shortfalls.