"[B]y relying on FY 2010 data, 'the dates the [recent Pew Center] study is using to measure the condition of many public pension plans are near the low point of the recent investment market decline.... [Further, in] order to arrive at the $1.38 trillion [shortfall] figure, Pew once again combines pensions with retiree healthcare. As NCTR and [the National Association of State Retirement Administrators] have noted in the past, retiree healthcare cost containment options, financing structures and benefit protections are entirely different from those of pensions. Pew's decision to couple retiree healthcare with pension liabilities distracts from the issues States face with these very different benefits."

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