Postal Service Debt to Hit $45 Billion Unless Law Changes

The U.S. Postal Service, which lost $1.3 billion in its first quarter, said its debt could reach $45 billion by around 2017 if Congress doesn’t pass legislation allowing it to change its business model.

The post office, at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing today, asked for permission to run its own health plan for employees and retirees. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe testified the service could save as much as $7 billion a year through 2016 by taking its health coverage out of the U.S. government plan.