Almost 2,000 employers and labor unions will be eligible to submit retirees’ medical bills for reimbursement from a $5 billion federal fund, the Obama administration announced today. So far, 41 Iowa organizations have been approved for the program, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.

Among the Central Iowa corporations on the list are FBL Financial Group Inc., Meredith Corp., Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. and Principal Financial Group Inc. The cities of Des Moines and West Des Moines and Polk County are among the local governments that have qualified; Des Moines Area Community College and the University of Iowa are also among the organizations that plan to use the program. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 1,987 employers have been approved to participate in the program so far.

 The department did not disclose how many employers were turned down for the program, but a spokesperson said the department is still taking applications, according a Wall Street Journal report.  

 The retiree-health fund was an incentive for corporations and unions to support the health-care bill, because early retirees who aren’t covered by Medicare incur some of the highest medical costs. Under the program, approved employers can tap into a federal fund that will reimburse up to 80 percent of certain health-care costs for retirees between the ages of 55 and 64, or those who don’t yet qualify for Medicare.

 Many organizations expect the funds, which are expected to last until health insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014, will run out of money before then.

 “It operates the same way as ‘cash for clunkers,’” James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, told the Journal. That federal car-buying subsidy was unexpectedly popular and quickly ran out of money.