Welcome to the party: Health care options dwindle under new UAW-GM contract
It's widely known that UAW workers have better than average health and dental coverage. That coverage makes up a sizable chunk of GM's labor costs, which the automaker wants to reduce through its pending contract with the UAW. Though copies of the contract in various states have been leaked, no one has taken a good look yet at what will happen to the UAW worker's health and dental coverage if the contract is approved. The Detroit Free Press took a crack at investigating the new contract and found some interesting items. While the oft cited VEBA account will take care of retired workers' health care, their benefits will not change unless the VEBA starts losing money. Active workers, however, will see their choices of health and dental plans reduced. We won't get into the nitty gritty, suffice it to say that higher co-pays and a smaller pool of doctors from which to choose is on its way.
It's hard to be sympathetic, however, considering that today most of the U.S. workforce endures health care plans that are half as comprehensive as they were a decade ago. To expect GM not to follow suit with the rest of corporate America and remain competitive is wishful thinking.
[Source: The Detroit Free Press]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
coldwarmth 2:32PM (10/05/2007)
Does anyone know what happens to the Jobs Bank under this new contract?
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V.S. 5:03PM (10/14/2007)
Remains but at a reduced level ....there are 12 plants going down the tubes and they will have to flow into remaining plants or retire......
Anonymust 3:18PM (10/05/2007)
There are 50 Billion reasons why I don't care!
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long 3:36PM (10/05/2007)
dont care about what??? jus go read your comic books kid.
long 2:56PM (10/05/2007)
I am sick and tired of these UAW bitching and winning about their health benefits and wages. they obviously been treated well by GM through the history of the company. these are some the most selfish piece shit workers in the nation....give me a break $28 an hour to put on a bumper and the best health care in the nation, which is equal $70 an hour. How can GM compete with that labor cost???....i'm so glad GM is coming out with great products the past two years and the up coming years... finally.
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V.S. 5:04PM (10/14/2007)
Long, you have to have a pecker about an inch long because you have no balls. These UAW people worked in adverse conditions, acids, heat treat area, plating areas and motality studies showed excessive cancer rates. So take your whining ass outta here and blow it out your ass.
Yggdrasilly 3:37PM (10/05/2007)
When you say "today most of the U.S. workforce endures health care plans that are half as comprehensive as they were a decade ago," is that just hyperbole, or do you actually have some statistic for the use of the word "half?"
I'm not disputing that most Americans now pay more for job-provided health care and have fewer choices of physicians, but you have to be careful about appearing to say something quantitative: if you do, you need to have numbers to back it up.
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psarhjinian 3:46PM (10/05/2007)
Sometimes, you know, socialism can be a good thing.
This is one of those times. Medicine should not be run for profit. When you start putting a dollar value on someone's well being, you start down an ugly slope, both in terms of economic inefficiency (the US pays more per person for Medicare than any other nation, but receives some of the worst service) and in terms of actual human cost (things like infant mortality, average age of death and disease management are at second-world levels).
The US government needs to suck it up and admit that private healthcare is a failure, especially when 100%, no-questions-asked coverage is cheaper for the consumer and for the government. It'd also get curtail the parasites in the insurance, HMO and drug industries, which would be a nice touch.
Sure, some rich people will need to wait longer for non-life-threatening conditions. Suck it up.
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Peter 6:15PM (10/05/2007)
The most cogent, concise and accurate assessment of the health care issue I have ever seen.
Bravo!
David 12:28AM (10/06/2007)
Are you kidding me? There is no way in hell I would ever trust a government-supplied doctor over a private, profit-seeking doctor, EVER!!!
Thanks to Medicaid/Medicare, we are already halfway toward a socialist system anyway. My company (yes, auto related) still provides a decent plan, but don't impose your government solution on the rest of us. Having access to a wait-list is not the same as access to services, and believe me, Hillary et al. will not be waiting on that wait-list with the rest of us.
Here's a shameless plug, www.ronpaul2008.com. Let the market do it's job.
Judy Zik 1:00PM (10/06/2007)
All Doctors are for profit. They work to get paid. The difference is whether or not they are being paid by a private insurance company, a government run insurance company or individuals. Here in Canada Dr's offices are private buisnesses. They bill the provinicial health insurance for their services. You pick the doctor you want because all doctors and hospitals are covered. No system is perfect but it seems to work. It costs less than the American system and everyone is fully covered. Private insurance companies are so shady I couldn't see leaving my healthcare up to them. They disallow legitimate claims in the interest of profit.
Mikeeeeeeee 5:44PM (10/06/2007)
You say you want government health care. Welcome to Medicare. Now everyone can have it. You also say some RICH PEOPLE will have to wait for non emergency care. Do you think YOU won't!!!!!!!!!
If government run things are better than private, Name me one that works? Except the military.
maxconfus 6:33PM (10/05/2007)
"[b]I am sick and tired of these UAW bitching and winning about their health benefits and wages. they obviously been treated well by GM through the history of the company. these are some the most selfish piece shit workers in the nation....[/b]"
Apparently you don't have a teacher's union in your area of the States. Teachers are the biggest group of whiners ever and make the private sector union guys look like the bush leagues...
For those that do not know, public sector labor unions like teachers, or clerical, get way better benefits than the uaw, hence why their ranks are swelling and uaw's are declining, not to mention why relatively everyone is seeing drastic increases in property/school taxes across the nation.
You know what is worse? The public sector labor unions have no incentive to negotiate a deal that is better for its employer like the uaw; after all the managers negotiating public sector labor agreements are also in a public union.
It's not good but it's no big deal when a private sector labor union like uaw increases the cost of a car, you can choose not to buy it. What do you do when the cost to live increases everywhere, bloated by the to-date unmovable public sector labor union? viva' la asphyxiation...what's good for gm is good for america has never been truer. I wonder if the public labor unions care?
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That One Person 11:26PM (10/05/2007)
You do have a point. I have no clue how many times I have watched the news and some group of teachers are protesting some cut in pay (which I would be pissed too but at least they get to keep their jobs) or their benefits are being "slimmed down". They truly are whiners. And I have fellow employees whose wives are teachers and they talk about how almost everyday their wives come home complaining about some cut.
As for this "issue", some of these UAW members need to chill out. At least you got to keep your jobs. God forbid your benefits be cut down to where everyone elses is at.
As a side note, I am a son of a UAW member (father is a skilled trades worker). I can tell you if these cuts are anything like my father's (his local has taken a buttload of concessions), I can tell you these people have a right to be a little mad. My father's insurance is a joke. And there is maybe, two doctors, in our area that we are covered under. One is a known alcoholic and the other is getting close to dying. The last time I was at the doctors I could swear Dr. Death was going to stab out my eyeballs with one of those light things. As for our dental, we're pretty much not covered. His insurance covers, maybe, a quarter of whatever is done. And we can only go to the eye doctor every two years. Which for me, is a pain in the butt. I have horrible vision and need to get new glasses every year. And I don't have the money to shell out $400-600 for a new pair of glasses.
DesiAuto 4:19PM (10/05/2007)
Amount of money being wasted in US health care industry is the problem. On top of it, insurance industry is designed to deny the claim, they try their best NOT to pay the claim. IMO, that's where the biggest scam is. If and when it all comes out Enron is going to look like a baby scam.
In meanwhile hospitals and patients both get screwed.
Beileve it or not this country is becoming poorer ...
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long 5:06PM (10/05/2007)
Its not the insurance itself at fault its also the hosipitals and doctors, they're charging patients an arm and iim for a simple visit and surgeries. its supply and demand, we the people have no choice but to get sucked in.
The industries all trying to maximize there profits each year and they're putting pain on us...FAWK THEM ALL
Who will step in to controll this epidemic???
SPG 6:20PM (10/05/2007)
I can still hear the sound of one of those four pane sunroof GM's rising through the roof.
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SPG 6:21PM (10/05/2007)
I should of mentioned, that's a bad thing because I want one.
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Tina 5:45AM (10/06/2007)
Socialisim is NEVER a good thing. Upstate NY is as close to it as I can see and here is the proof http://www.bcnys.org/whatsnew/2004/0816upstate.htm. Get the government out of health care completely and that will solve the problem.
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G. Onads 11:22AM (10/06/2007)
Our health care costs will continue to rise and our benefits will continue to dwindle as long as the prescription drug cartels are allowed to advertise on tv.
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