GM & UAW TO CREATE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM

From The New York Times:

For years, General Motors has said it supports the United Automobile Workers union in its push for change in the nation’s health care system. Now the U.A.W. has persuaded G.M. to put its money where its mouth is.

In a labor agreement reached last week between the company and the union, G.M. has agreed to spend up to $15 million over the next few years to create a National Institute for Health Care Reform.

The institute, run by G.M. and the U.A.W., would engage economists, analysts, academics and other experts, who would conduct studies on the current health care system as well as alternatives. It would look at ways to lower drug costs and would sponsor forums on health care changes.

A G.M. spokeswoman, Michelle Bunker, said the company had not specifically called for a single-payer health care plan, in which a government program would be created to offer health care benefits.

But she said G.M. “believes that all Americans should have access to insurance, and we are working with key players to make sure that everyone has high-quality care at low cost.”
Although G.M. is making the initial investment, Ford Motor and Chrysler also would make proportional contributions, if they agree to similar terms in their new contracts with the U.A.W., according to the contract language.

The U.A.W. has supported national health care for generations. It was a primary focus for Walter P. Reuther, one of the union’s founders. He began arguing in favor of universal health care after World War II, and was one of the forces behind the creation of Medicare for older Americans.

Mr. Reuther’s successor, Leonard Woodcock, urged American businesses in 1970 to support a national health care plan as a way to fight raging health care inflation.

In the absence of a national system, the union instead secured generous health care benefits for its members and retirees, which have since added up to a $55 billion liability for G.M. and a nearly $100 billion liability for the industry over all.