GM CEO: Serious Health Care Reform ‘Undoubtedy Would Help Level The Playing Field’
GM CEO: Serious Health Care Reform ‘Undoubtedy Would Help Level The Playing Field’
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee today, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner said that his company has spent over $103 billion over the last fifteen years on pensions and post-retirement health care benefits. “Obviously if we had the $103 billion and could use it for other things, it would enable us to be even farther ahead on technology or newer equipment in our plants or whatever,” Wagoner said.
Considering these enormous costs, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) asked Wagoner whether he would support “a national health care program in order to stay viable.” Wagoner agrees that serious health care reform would “undoubtedly” help the Big Three stay competitive with foreign automakers:
GWEN MOORE (D-WI): Wouldn’t this have been a great time for GM to say, we need a national health care program in order to stay viable? You correctly identify the problem, that other markets — China, Latin America, Russia where GM does not have the burdens of those costs. Why did you stop short of saying that this kind of initiative would help our industry?
WAGONER: Well it undoubtedly would help level the playing field for the industry. … We’ve then tried to we have been very active in the health-care debate since here in Washington. … Our competitors do in most other countries have a significantly greater government role.
Watch it:
Indeed, the United States’ broken health care system puts enormous burdens on all employers — and has both helped create the Big Three’s current financial troubles as well as fueled the overall economic downturn. Health care costs add $1,525 to the price tag of every GM car; the company spent $4.6 billion on health care in 2007, more than it paid for steel. Warren Buffet has called GM “a health and benefits company with an auto company attached.”
Enormous — and rapidly increasing — health care costs cripple the Big Three’s ability to stay competitive with foreign automakers. For instance, Toyota, which benefits from Japan’s universal health system, “paid $1,400 less per vehicle on health care” and makes $2,400 more per car than American manufacturers. In both Japan and Germany, the government, employers, and individuals all share in the responsibility of paying for health care, leaving American companies at a competitive disadvantage.
In fact, just yesterday Toyota cut the ribbon on a new plant in Ontario, Canada. Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) pointed out that the only cost difference between operating in the U.S. and Canada “has got to be entirely on health care.” Though GM had supported President Clinton’s health care reform efforts, Frank scolded the entire industry for remaining silent. “Among the mistakes the auto companies made was in 1993, when there was an effort by President Clinton to do something about health care, you didn’t help him,” Frank said.
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Golly, if we weren’t spending so much money on war and bailouts, we’d be able to fix the healthcare system in a flash.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:31 pmIf I had the money I spent on insurance for my small business I’d be happy to pay more in taxes.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:31 pmwhy do’nt the rethugs want universal health care apart form the huge amounts of campainge cash they get “that goes for both parties”final nail in their coffin
December 5th, 2008 at 6:33 pmIf we finally got universal health care and the public see’s what great benifit it is they would ask the rethug party why did u resist this all those years exactly how would they answer we wanted to save you money and we dont like socialism that aint gonna fly no way no how
LOL!
Silver linings people!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:39 pmPer Capita adjusted Health care Costs:
United States: $5,267 on health care/ $2,364 is government spending.
Canada: $2,931 on health care / $2,048 is government spending.
France: $2,736 on health care / $2,080 is government spending.
America can NO LONGER AFFORD a Broken Health Care System. Period.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:54 pmI just heard a righty friend of mine say this all could have been prevented if Bill Clinton hadn’t been elected in ‘92. Damn those Clintons. Gotta’ love the stoopid.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:01 pmProblem = Health care for PROFIT
Insurance Companies = Greed and unneeded costs for Health care.
When was the last time an Insurance Company had anything to do with your health?
They are not doctors, they are not emergency room staff, they are administrators raping you for money.
Single payer, get rid of the insurance companies.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:04 pm.
The $25 BILLION Detroit Bailout & Healthcare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYbVZqYqR3A
.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:07 pmWarren Buffet has called GM “a health and benefits company with an auto company attached.”
Yes, Warren, you are so right on that one!
Here’s my problem with the auto worker “retirees”. Why is it that they can “retire” before age 65 with full benefits? That just doesn’t seem quite right to me. If they retired when the rest of us retire, the auto companies wouldn’t have such staggering “retiree” health care costs. That would be Medicare (i.e. Nation Health Care)
But the same applies to government employees, who can retire with a lifetime of full benefits and retirement pay after a certain number of years of service. And when there are budget problems in government agencies? They pay people to retire early!
What’s wrong with this picture? Oh, and got my IRA statement today, so color me pissed.
PEACE
December 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pmWhen I think of the 700 billion we have spent in Iraq with nothing to show for it; the 750 billion pledged to the financial industry, with who-knows-what to show for it; I see that we could have overhauled the health care system, the public education system and kept up with work on our infrastructure.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:17 pmWe need a smart group in charge with huge ideas and the public support to carry them out.
Unfortunately, we still have republicans who intend to stymie Obama and his team at every opportunity – their hope is to cause him to fail, or fall very short of his goals, after four years, so that they can claim he was ineffective and bamboozle the public into electing them again to continue their oligarchy.
…Toyota, which benefits from Japan’s universal health system, …
would someone please explain that to me…
how does japan’s system work HERE?
aren’t most toyotas sold in the US made in the US?
mine was… and i LOVE my toyota… a ‘93… back when GM cars were pieces of shite… i hear they aren’t now… i’ll never know.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:33 pmand, btw:
Kennedy steps down from Judiciary panel
December 5th, 2008 at 7:35 pmThe Associated Press – 54 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. Edward Kennedy said Friday he is stepping down from his Senate Judiciary Committee post to focus on achieving a breakthrough on health care reform.
Shayne Says:
If I had the money I spent on insurance for my small business I’d be happy to pay more in taxes.
or, like randi said today, if she didn’t have to spend the $1200 budgeted for her employee’s health insurance, she could pay that employee $1200 more… (or is it $12 THOUSAND?) … whatever…
December 5th, 2008 at 7:37 pmYep,
I think the Push for Health Care Reform LEGISLATION will come from Sen. Ted Kennedy.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pmT R L Says:
why do’nt the rethugs want universal health care
G R E E D .
there are way too many in it to make big bucks.
simple.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:40 pmoy… TRL – “punctuation is your friend”… try it!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:40 pmkaty Says:
Sen. Edward Kennedy said Friday he is stepping down from his Senate Judiciary Committee post to focus on achieving a breakthrough on health care reform.
-/-
Speaking of people who need to step down…
Clarence Thomas should be asked to step down from the SCOTUS for furthering this nonsense…
A merry band of troglodytes pray for the Supreme Court to invalidate Obama’s presidency…
December 5th, 2008 at 7:44 pmand it gets worse, bronzbootz… (excuse the OT, folks)
[...]
We could be dealing with the repercussions of the tangled web these people have woven for years after Obama is inaugurated. We already have some hints of what’s to come. Gary Kreep, who heads the United States Justice Foundation and is representing Alan Keyes in one of the lawsuits over the president-elect’s eligibility, has said his group will file suit to challenge each and every one of Obama’s actions as president.
[...]
Why the stories about Obama’s birth certificate will never die
December 5th, 2008 at 7:55 pmhttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/12/05/birth_certificate/
So true Katy
Whether it be Obama’s citizenship or the overwhelming benefits of a universal healthcare program; there is literally no end to the legions of people who will oppose reality for the sake of a comfortable fantasy.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:24 pmIt doesn’t matter that EVERY other major industrial power has such a program and can spend fractions of what our purely profit driven model cost. It doesn’t matter that it would be a national scandal for a person to go bankrupt because of insurance bills in Switzerland, Japan, Germany or Britain.
It doesn’t matter that 18,000 people die per year because they have no insurance, A trajety that would spark riots in our fellow industrial nations. But, like those who cling to the conspiracy of Obama’s noncitizenship, the forces of free market fundamentalism will never give up their ‘certainty’, no matter how much reality contradicts it.
1.Health industries have no competition from foreign companies,so they enjoy having all the market to themselves.
for example, If a US manufacturer sells water pumps for an expensive price, then buyers will go as a result to a foreign source,just like the case in cars, but that’s not the way it is in health industries.
2.Health industries have the power of billing people. That’s not the case when one buys other products or get other services where he has to see the product or examine the service and he can go over the items he purchased.
3.Health industries work under conditions are not similar to other industries. If someone gets a quote to paint his car for $1000.00, but he is willing to spend only $500.00….HE CAN WAIT…but health care cannot be postponed..
That’s why the health industry is prospering because they have the upper hand.
Unless this country design and create an affordable health care system..then people of this country, other industries, states ,and Federal government all will suffer in the long run.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:16 pmOn the other hand, the US Big Three have a guaranteed market in city, state, and federal government departments and authorities ( ever see a Toyota cop-car, or a parks department BMW? )
December 5th, 2008 at 9:57 pmIt’s misleading.
No matter whether company, citizen or state pay the bill – it needs to be paid, and this happens with the economic output of the nation.
Germany has a 50/50 distribution of health care fees between company and worker – which simply means that the wage needs to be higher than if it was a 100/0 distribution. It’s just facade.
The same goes for state-sponsored health care. The state pays (in the long term) with money that was sucked out of the national economy – by taxes and such.
Health care costs are costs, and they’re disadvantageous. The mode of organization doesn’t magically remove these costs.
GM paid so much in health care costs because it benefited before that period by a system that made their products artificially cheap (or their profits artificially high) because they were in a more advantageous stage of the health care life cycle.
They could have transferred the pension and health care responsibilities into funds and give those funds enough money in advance. That would have meant that they had fair costs decades ago.
Instead, the big three did the same as many citizens a most states and the federal government; pursue an unsustainable path that (predictably) leads into a financial and debt disaster.
Much of the good old days was facade, that’s an important lesson. The whole nation needs to become unassuming to fix its faults.
December 5th, 2008 at 10:07 pm5th Estate Says:
On the other hand, the US Big Three have a guaranteed market in city, state, and federal government departments and authorities ( ever see a Toyota cop-car, or a parks department BMW? )
well…
[...] As it turned out, Alabama offered a stunning $253 million incentive package to Mercedes. Additionally, the state also offered to train the workers, clear and improve the site, upgrade utilities, and buy 2,500 Mercedes Benz vehicles.
When will the media expose Richard Shelby’s ties to foreign car manufacturers in Alabama?
December 5th, 2008 at 10:23 pmhttp://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/when-will-media-expose-richard-shelbys-
The Republican Crime Syndicate is a threat to a Progressive America.
Someone give me proof that I’m wrong.
December 6th, 2008 at 12:54 amSo…conservative economic policies are making America’s businesses less competitive? Who woulda thought?
December 6th, 2008 at 5:20 amrogerD Says:
I just heard a righty friend of mine say this all could have been prevented if Bill Clinton hadn’t been elected in ‘92. Damn those Clintons. Gotta’ love the stoopid.
WHOA, WHOA Roger, Stoopid is as Stoopid does. You OPT to be “STOOPID’S” friend, so who IS stoopid?
December 6th, 2008 at 9:51 amkaty Says:
…Toyota, which benefits from Japan’s universal health system, …
would someone please explain that to me…
how does japan’s system work HERE?
aren’t most toyotas sold in the US made in the US?
mine was… and i LOVE my toyota… a ‘93… back when GM cars were pieces of shite… i hear they aren’t now… i’ll never know.
I leased “Merican” got a GMC Acadia. Hasn’t worked right since day one. Even the presentation of the “new car” by the dealer sucked on day zero. Total disappointment.
I also have a Kia, which also has some problems, noth withstanding THERE ARE NO FUKCING DEALERSHIPS TO GET SHIIT REPAIRED UNDER WARRANTY. What a bamboozle Kia/Hyundai was. They supposedly were going to merge, the cars are almost exactly the same.
Totally disgusted for what passes as cars nowadays anyway.
IF the big three DO FAIL, then people would turn to things like Tesla Motors.
http://www.teslamotors.com/
And that would be bad because….?
December 6th, 2008 at 9:58 amever see a Toyota cop-car, or a parks department BMW? )
Austin cops ride Beemer cycles. So do other two-wheeled Kojaks in smaller communities throughout Texas.
Man, are those things SWEEEEEEEET.
And quite pricey.
December 6th, 2008 at 11:31 amHealth care is an out of control cost where double digit annual price increases are more common than rare. While other industrialized nations have controlled the cost of health care, the United States has not. President Truman called for a single payer national health insurance plan many decades ago, but the Congress has been unable to show the will to face-up to the issue because of the power of the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. While health insurance is on the Obama-Kennedy agenda, they are still not challenging those industries as they should and not confronting the real problems.
Every business small and large has struggled with paying the health insurance costs of their employees. It has held back hiring and holds back wages. A mega-corporation like General Motors sees those problems amplified. It would not be unfair to describe General Motors as a health insurance provider who happens to make cars. GM spends $5 billion annually on health care for 1.2 million people – only 150,000 of whom work for the company. GM, Ford and Chrysler have a combined unfunded retiree health care obligation of more than $90 billion. Health care adds $1,500 to the cost of each vehicle. This reality alone makes it virtually impossible for GM to have a successful economic model and it is not something GM can fix. Health care is a major problem not only for the auto industry, but the airline and steel industry as well as businesses of all size. The failure of Congress to face up to single payer health care is now a threat to the American economy.
December 6th, 2008 at 12:34 pmThere’s health care cost anyway – directly or indirectly.
The only thing that reduces the burden is better efficiency in the health care system.
December 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pmAs has been stated, the primary problem is that the entire health care industry is a for-profit business. It is also a business that has a guarunteed clientelle — that of every citizen. Being for-profit means that what is important to them is the bottom line. Sure, there are practicioners out there who are concerned about the welfare of their patients, but what is the number one reason that a person studies to be a doctor (or lab tech, or what have you)? What is the number one reason a parent will encourage their child to enter one of these fields? If you said, “To help people,” you just failed the test. The number one reason to enter the medical field is — big money job. Well, the motivation to enter the field is completley wrong. it does not even require curiosity any longer: most modern doctors are not interested in discovering new cures or techniques themselves: they read journals and do what the people paid to be researchers (paid, mostly, by the drug companies) tell them to do.
An attached problem is the insurance industries, which in all instances are extortion (when the law requires it, or when services can be refused without it). You pay your insurance fees, but if you actually use the insurance the rates increase BECAUSE you called upon the company to do what you have been paying them to be there for in the first place. These increases will, over time, recover the company’s money it had to spend on you and then some. So, the company does nothing for you but take your money. This is the metaphorical equivalent of going to a restaraunt and paying for an item on the menu, then being told that if you actually want it served to you so you can eat it then you’ll have to pay more. And they have made it SEEM to be such a necessary thing (in fact, made it so in many instances) that the average person does not tie it all together. And worse, you have no choice in some instances (e.g. car insurance is required by law, some medical practicioners can refuse service if you are uninsured).
We need to have federally mandated pay for medical services, and consequently lowered costs of medical schools, and lowered costs for health care in general, and a national health care system. Unfortunately, the industry is SO powerful that we will likely not ever see such a thing. Greedy people who are getting t heir greed filled do not ever want to give that up.
America’s medical industry runs on greed, not compassion.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:34 am