Health tab to soar at GM. UAW deal cuts Ford's cost, but not for long.

[Doondoo]

Health care costs at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. will continue to rise at an alarming rate and are likely to spark a showdown with the United Auto Workers during upcoming contract talks, according to a new report released Monday by the respected credit-rating firm Fitch Inc.

Fitch looked at cash costs for health care at both GM and Ford and concluded that concessions made by the UAW in 2005 have not been enough to offset inflation-driven increases in health care spending, production cuts and the flow-back of workers from both automakers' former parts subsidiaries. Ford will see some modest gains as a result of its blue-collar buyout program, but both companies will continue to trend upward.

"The recent health care agreements with the UAW, changes to salaried health care programs and employee buyouts have pushed out the slope of the health care curve, but have done little to erase, or even narrow, the significant competitive disadvantage that these costs represent versus the transplant competition," Fitch stated in its report. "Health care will be the No. 1 issue in the upcoming labor talks, which are likely to be contentious."

.......

Fitch said GM is in a worse position than Ford because it has an older work force and its recent blue-collar buyout was more focused on convincing retirement-eligible workers to leave with their health care benefits than on persuading younger employees to sever their ties with the company. In contrast, Ford estimates that about half the workers who signed up for one of its hourly buyout packages opted for one that did not include lifetime health care benefits.

To make matters worse, GM will be assuming retiree obligations for thousands of former Delphi Corp. workers as part of a bailout deal with its one-time parts subsidiary. That will add more than $300 million in new health care costs to GM's ledger in 2007, according to the rating firm's analysis.


http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/AUTO01/702270372

[Hekate]

1. Why, why, why doesn't GM use their lobbying power for universal health care?

If GM et al are just BS-ing us with their bellyaching about employee health care costs, then it's just hokum.

IF what they say is true, universal health care would lift the burden of that expense from employers, including GM. If what they have been saying is true, I cannot understand why they don't use their corporate clout to change our dysfunctional, broken system.

They have the clout -- none of the rest of us do. BushCheney and the Republicans in Congress listen to major corporations -- they certainly don't listen to the rest of us.

Hekate

[Nevernose]

4. The Big Three (Two?) have been pushing for UHC

And have for a couple of years, now. I wish I could remember the details, but it WAS in an article in LBN a while back. It made the rounds, a couple of mentions on the nightly news jackasses, and then disappeared. I'm sure, though, that a couple of the less addlepated, more dedicated UHC gurus we have around here could provide reams of data.

That's what DU's best at, ain't it? If you need an expert on something, there's one here; and if you're already an expert, then there's someone here who knows more than you (or at least fakes it better :)).

[Earth_First]

2. Mark my words

Single-Payer Universal Healthcare is alot closer than one thinks.

The automotive industry will be the galvanizing force behind this.

[Hekate]

3. From your keyboard to the Lady's eyes...

Ever since I had that epiphany (see my post above) I haven't been able to figure out why sheer self-interest on GM's part hasn't kicked in. I so hope you are right -- and that it doesn't turn into another BushCheney fubar event (providing of course it gets done in the next 2 years).

Hekate

[customerserviceguy]

7. Just wait until genome research is completed

Then, even conservatives will feel the pain. Being denied affordable health care just because you have a genetic propensity to develop something will change a lot more minds.

I'm looking forward to that day, every time I see competing ads for my local HMO (Kaiser) and its biggest private competitor (Regency Blue Cross/Blue Shield), I get really furious at all the money being pissed away on advertising, rather than on treatment.

[Porcupine]

5. Disconect health care and jobs. Single Payer.

Adding the health care burden to employment costs kills innovation and small business growth. Single payer health care allows employers to more freely hire and employees to move to jobs with more opportunity or interest for workers.

[Hekate]

6. So many people live in fear of losing their jobs because of that...

...so many people feel chained to no-longer-satisfactory jobs because of health-care.

It really is fear-inducing and stifles the very kind of thing that we think of as American: innovation and the ability to start over someplace else.

And it just kills smaller businesses that try to do right by their employees.

For once I am looking to major corporations to do the right thing out of enlightened self-interest.

Hekate

[hogwyld]

8. The big 3's ultimate goal here

Is the shuttering of all domestic manufacturing. They will moan until they ship every last blue collar job to Mexico or China. While all of the execs can look forward to an early retirement to the local country club...