Originally published March 26 2005
Chrysler employees will pay more for health care
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Employees of the car maker Chrysler have agreed to pay more for their health care in the coming months. The company and the United Auto Workers of America have reached an agreement in which the employees will pay deductibles of up to $1000 per year for services that had previously been free. The company will also begin charging employees $12.50 for co-pays on eye care.
UAW agrees to let company shift more of the tab to workers; rivals likely to follow.
Beginning April 1, Chrysler UAW workers and retirees will pay more for health care.
� Co-pay of $5 for vision exams and $7.50 for lenses, frames and contacts.
Chrysler struck a deal with the United Auto Workers to raise out-of-pocket medical expenses for 35,000 blue-collar workers and retirees, setting a precedent that its crosstown rivals may seek to follow.
Beginning April 1, Chrysler's hourly workers, retirees and their families will be required to pay annual deductibles of $100 to $1,000 for health care that had previously been free.
The automaker was able to negotiate the changes without breaking open its national contract with the United Auto Workers because of a little-known pact between Chrysler and the union.
The agreement -- negotiated in 1982 but never before invoked -- allows Chrysler to ask the union for relief if health costs spiral out of control.
Detroit automakers are grappling with double-digit increases in health care costs and taking aggressive steps to rein in the expense.
Chrysler will charge deductibles only for employees and retirees covered by its preferred provider organization, or PPO.
The deductibles apply to office visits, physical exams and all eligible hospital, surgical and medical benefits, but do not apply to prescription drugs or special services such as mental health coverage.
Co-pays for office visits and physical exams will remain unchanged at 50 percent of charges, and most immunizations and surgical procedures will continue to be covered in full by the PPO plan.
The rest of Chrysler's 70,000 UAW-represented workers are covered by separate plans and are not affected by the changes in deductibles.
Under the current four-year contract with the UAW, Chrysler, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are prohibited from changing terms of health care coverage.
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