Tars
12-13-2008, 08:39 AM
Here's an interesting idea on how to start the U.S. automakers back towards solvency, while at the same time getting universal healthcare moving:
Bail Them Out? Why Not Take Over Their Healthcare Instead? (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/bail-them-out-why-not-tak_b_150689.html)
by RJ Eskow, on the Huffington Post
Excerpt:
"The automakers have some immediate cash needs, especially for $10 billion in outstanding bills. It would be reckless to allow these suppliers to go under. But overall, the numbers suggest that a plan like this could actually work. Here are some back-of-the-envelope calculations:
Let's use one of the lower numbers being thrown around and say that 241,000 people work for the Big Three.
Employer health plan premiums were $12,000 per year in 2007. It's gone up since then, but part of the cost is paid by the employee, and some employees will have health coverage through other sources (though not many in this case). So let's conservatively assume a per-employee cost to the Big Three of $8,000.
That gives us an annual cost of just under $2 billion ($1,928,000) to cover these 241,000 employees. We would hope to reduce cost inflation, but we can't promise that. But even if this plan suffers a raging 10% inflation rate, the total cost of a five-year "health bailout" would be less than $12 billion -- which is below the $14 billion previously proposed.And look at what else we would get. Secretary Daschle and his team could use this process to build a model Data Exchange and health purchasing process. Even more innovative programs could be carried out, too, especially in Michigan (where 149,000 of the Big Three's workers live). Electronic data records, online and in-person wellness programs, "medical homes," new incentives for providers and enrollees -- Michigan can become the breeding ground for new ideas, and the autoworker health plan can become the incubator for health reform."
Bail Them Out? Why Not Take Over Their Healthcare Instead? (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/bail-them-out-why-not-tak_b_150689.html)
by RJ Eskow, on the Huffington Post
Excerpt:
"The automakers have some immediate cash needs, especially for $10 billion in outstanding bills. It would be reckless to allow these suppliers to go under. But overall, the numbers suggest that a plan like this could actually work. Here are some back-of-the-envelope calculations:
Let's use one of the lower numbers being thrown around and say that 241,000 people work for the Big Three.
Employer health plan premiums were $12,000 per year in 2007. It's gone up since then, but part of the cost is paid by the employee, and some employees will have health coverage through other sources (though not many in this case). So let's conservatively assume a per-employee cost to the Big Three of $8,000.
That gives us an annual cost of just under $2 billion ($1,928,000) to cover these 241,000 employees. We would hope to reduce cost inflation, but we can't promise that. But even if this plan suffers a raging 10% inflation rate, the total cost of a five-year "health bailout" would be less than $12 billion -- which is below the $14 billion previously proposed.And look at what else we would get. Secretary Daschle and his team could use this process to build a model Data Exchange and health purchasing process. Even more innovative programs could be carried out, too, especially in Michigan (where 149,000 of the Big Three's workers live). Electronic data records, online and in-person wellness programs, "medical homes," new incentives for providers and enrollees -- Michigan can become the breeding ground for new ideas, and the autoworker health plan can become the incubator for health reform."