In a meeting in Detroit on Jan. 29 with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, executives from GM, Ford, and Chrysler Group pledged to provide quality and price information about physicians, hospitals, and other medical providers for all enrollees in their health insurance programs. That same day, a group of about 30 other Michigan employers signed statements of support. The companies that signed, including the three automakers, cover nearly 2 million people.
In addition, the employers will support health IT by encouraging the use of recognized interoperability standards in the health IT products used by their health plans. They also pledged to develop incentives for achieving better value in health care, including incentives for high-quality care, and for more active involvement by employees in choosing their healthcare services. “Is it going to mean that healthcare costs are no longer the single biggest fixed cost in the car-making business? Not a chance,” DaimlerChrysler spokesman David Elshoff told the Associated Press. “But can it reduce the trend, or ... can we do something about the rate of inflation? Possibly.” Read the HHS news release.
