A U.S. District Court judge has approved the agreement between Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers to require hourly retirees to begin paying for their healthcare coverage, most likely starting Aug. 1, according to The Detroit News. Out-of-pocket expenses are capped at $370 per year for individuals and $752 for families, and annual increases to that cap cannot exceed 3%. Ford also limited next year’s contributions for healthcare coverage to salaried retirees to 2006 levels. The cost-cutting measure is expected to result in an annual pretax savings of $650 million and an annual cash savings of $200 million for Ford.
