Postmaster Says U.S. Postal Service Needs Law Change to Survive

Conceding that some of these losses can be attributed to Americans' changing modes of communication, Donahoe said, but mainly "our losses are the result of an inflexible business model due to the laws that govern the Postal Service."

He cited specifically a statutory requirement that since 2007 has required the Postal Service to prefund retiree health benefits (RHB) in amounts of approximately $5.5 billion per year. Noting that no other entity, public or private, is burdened with this responsibility, Donahoe said that the Postal Service showed a positive net income in each of the four years before RHB was imposed. But, in each of the four years since, "we have seen billion dollar losses."