Managing Automation - August 2008 - (Page 32)

H E AT H C A R E that mandate employer-provided coverage to take a hint from industry and do a better or require employer payments. job of using expensive equipment. According “Our members feel they’re best suited to to Pointe Precision’s Castine, several clinics pay for benefits and to assess how much have open recently in and around the comthey should be paying for their employee pany’s Plover, WI, headquarters, each sportbase,” says Jeri Gillespie, vice president of ing its own expensive CT scanning and other human resources policy at the National Asequipment, much of it underused. sociation of Manufacturers. “Until we see better cooperation among While manufacturers are at odds over healthcare providers, costs won’t come healthcare macro reforms, they see many down,” Castine says. smaller steps that the government can and And, manufacturers say, healthcare should be taking. Messinger, for example, providers should be required to do a better is among those calling for legislation to limit job of providing employers with complete inmalpractice lawsuit payouts. formation about the costs and outcomes reAccording to a recent report by the Mclated to their healthcare spending. Access to Kinsey Global Institute, doctors in the United States pay an average of The United States spends $477 billion $27,500 each per year on malprac- more on healthcare each year than peer tice insurance. That amounts to anEuropean countries, according to a nual spending of $20 billion. While that’s significant, it’s only a McKinsey Global Institute report. small part of the overspending on healthcare that takes place in the United that kind of information would allow manuStates. According to the McKinsey report, facturers and their employees to make better, the United States spends $477 billion more more informed decisions when selecting on healthcare each year than peer European healthcare and insurance providers, NAM’s countries. (That figure is adjusted for higher Gillespie says. per-capita income levels in the United States.) “Local hospitals and other providers need According to the report, the factors most acto promote transparency so that employers countable for higher U.S. healthcare costs know what they are getting for the price,” are doctors’ and nurses’ salaries; the cost of Gillespie says. “Right now, it’s pretty opaque, drugs, devices, and medical supplies; and the particularly if you’re a smaller manufacturer.” profits of private participants in the healthKEEPING COSTS IN CHECK care system. Manufacturers also suggest that the govBut many manufacturers aren’t waiting for ernment should require healthcare providers the government to begin bringing down the cost of providing healthcare. Some have begun to innovate on their own, pushing for consumer-driven healthcare and value-driven healthcare, two trends that may help keep costs in check. Textron Inc., a $13.2 billion aerospace manTOTAL EMPOLYEE/EMPLOYER HEALTHCARE ufacturer, has become a leader in consumerCOSTS 2003 VERSUS 2008 driven healthcare, an approach that places more responsibility on consumers for un2003 Total: $6,384 derstanding healthcare costs and taking steps Employee: $1,284 to reduce them. In 2002, responding to rapidly rising healthcare costs, Textron began inEmployer: $5,100 troducing health plans that featured personal care accounts (PCAs), funded by Textron, 2008 Total: 9,144 that employees manage and use to pay their Employee: healthcare costs. Employees can carry for$2,064 ward unused PCA funds for future medical Employer: $7,080 expenses or even retirement medical care. The plan also includes 100% coverage for Source: Towers Perrin preventive care services and financial pro- up going ma 32 2008 August

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - August 2008

Managing Automation - August 2008 Contents Take 1 After 18 Months, the Oracle/SAP Suit Has Little Effect on Maintenance Sales At 100, Foxboro Reinvents Around Its Customers New Private Equity Firm Eyes Software A Software Suite Just for Manufacturers i2 Chief Focuses on Services Plan Notes It's Time for Action Examining U.S. Competitveness Leveling the Field An Unhealthy Situation Exploring Alternatives Math and Science: Key to the Future Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - August 2008

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