General Motors Corp. has launched a dependent health care audit of its 80,700
hourly workers and 345,000 retirees in an effort to reduce the more than $4.6
billion it spent on health care last year, said Michelle Bunker, a GM
spokeswoman.
Bunker said the audit, which is being conducted by Highland Park,
Michigan-based Budco, a benefits communications and dependent database
developer, will run through 2009’s first quarter.
Initially, she said, workers and retirees would have the opportunity to
self-report ineligible dependents, who will be removed from GM’s health care
rolls with no repercussions.
In a second phase, to be launched this fall, employees and retirees will be
asked to provide documentation—such as a tax return or school transcript—proving
that their dependents are eligible for coverage. Employees may be asked to
compensate GM for coverage for ineligible dependents discovered in this second
phase, the spokeswoman said.
Bunker said the Detroit-based automaker has just finished an audit of its
36,600 active salaried employees and 97,400 retirees, and found the majority of
ineligible dependents “were children who have aged out because they are no
longer attending school.”
She declined to provide more details of that audit’s results.
Filed by Judy Greenwald of Business Insurance, a sister publication of
Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
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