Just So You Know

And GM wins big...

So I'm listening to the radio where I get most of my news feeds and I hear the line that UAW will take over the liability for retiree health care in their win over GM. I almost had to pull over to the side of the road, I was laughing so hard.

See, last year in financial accounting we learned that one of GM's largest expenses is the pension and health plan for the retirees. The union has forced GM into giving its workers gold plated benefits - everything covered at the company's expense and nothing being the responsibility of the employee. With the out of control increases in medical services, this platinum benefit becomes more and more expensive every year.

Maybe the UAW is hoping that the Democrats win the White House and Congress and the government will take over being the decision maker on health care - which is what Universal Health coverage is really. You, the taxpayer, will be paying the health care bills of all those who don't contribute to the system with Congress deciding who gets to be covered and who doesn't.

But back to the cost of medical care... Did you know that the latest trend in oncology (cancer care) is to have the doctor pick up a $831 injection and charge the patient and the insurance company upwards of $5000 for it?

Years ago there was outrage about hospitals charging $20 for aspirin but you don't hear much about the $100,000 for the $5,000 titanium implant.

So, good luck UAW - I think that GM just got the best part of that deal.

Labels: Healthcare, medical costs1

posted by Shondratasha @ 13:40