Health benefits stay intact as UAW OKs other cost cuts.(News)(health benefit cost-shifting)

Business Insurance, October, 2003

Byline: JOANNE WOJCIK DETROIT-While the United Auto Workers may have won the battle with employers over health benefit cost-shifting in its latest contract talks, the automakers and union representatives are quietly working behind the scenes to find other ways to cut costs, some of which are outlined in the new four-year pact.

And there may be some cost-trimming opportunities, observers say, because the UAW's collective bargaining agreements have for years ensured that auto industry workers have maintained almost first-dollar benefits for members and unrestricted access to providers, while workers in other industries have seen their benefits eroded. Still, the UAW's victory at the bargaining table over increased cost-shifting at a time when most employers...

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