GM’s Health Plan Revised

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. said Monday that it will require white-collar workers to pay a portion of their health insurance in an effort to control rising costs.

The new plan, which marks the first time the company has asked its employees to chip in for health care, could be in place by Jan. 1.

“The new salaried employee plan will be, generally speaking, a flex plan and will provide coverage for routine, preventive and catastrophic health care, comparable to the level salaried employees or retirees have now,” GM spokesman Mark Tanner said.

However, he said, the level of deductibles and co-payments will also increase under the plan, which will affect about 100,000 GM salaried employees and 90,000 retirees.

Tanner declined to say how much money each employee will have to pay for health care benefits. But he said monthly premiums will depend on the number of dependents and options.

Tanner said the change pertains only to white-collar workers, retirees and their dependents in the United States.

However, the issue is expected to be discussed with the United Auto Workers union next year when contract talks take place.

Last year, GM spent a staggering $3.4 billion on health benefits. That equates to about $929 on every car sold in the United States.