Despite enjoying over a 20% decline in their aggregate medical costs since 1992, GE is gearing up for more cost shifting to employees in upcoming national negotiations. The company is particularly eager for additional cuts in prescription drug coverage not only for us, but even for GE retirees.

Some Recent Bad Medicine

In just the last few years we have seen GE substantially erode this vital benefit including:

• Reducing the standard prescription supply from 30 to 21 days

• Substantially increasing co-pays to $12.00 whether for brand name or generic drugs

• Forcing employees to pay in most cases for the entire difference in cost for brand name drugs over generics

• No longer counting prescription expenses towards satisfying either our annual out of pocket maximums or deductibles

• Carving out some two dozen categories of drugs and inventing a claimed right of "prior authorization" of them by GE or Medco before paying for a bona fide prescription, if they pay at all.

GE's Prescription: More Cuts!

Far from being satisfied, a recent GE presentation listed these "potential options" to change our prescription coverage:

The Real Problem

Although GE can easily afford it, it’s true that drug costs are increasing rapidly, primarily due to rampant profiteering by drug companies, which have monopoly control over drugs they develop. This is despite the fact that they get large tax subsidies for research. As a result, drug prices in the U.S. are the world’s highest, nearly twice as much as in Canada for example.

But when it comes to any legislative attempts to rein in the drug companies or even to add a prescription benefit to Medicare, GE’s silence is deafening. They prefer to dump more costs onto us.

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE)
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