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When DaimlerChrysler executives determined employee health care costs at the company's Kenosha plant were three times higher than at any of the automaker's other American plants, they decided to study the causes.
They learned one of the main contributors is that one-third of the Kenosha County population receives its health care in Milwaukee and Racine counties, according to a study sponsored by the United Auto Workers and DaimlerChrysler.
Health care costs in the Milwaukee area are 55 percent higher than other Midwestern cities, according to a separate report released earlier this year by William M. Mercer Inc. The average annual cost per employee in Kenosha County for health care in 2000 was $5,580, according to that report. Milwaukee costs were found to be $6,300 compared to $4,479 in Chicago and an average of $4,063 across the Midwest.
Instead of looking solely at DaimlerChrysler's 1,800 Kenosha employees, researchers studied the entire Kenosha County population to get a broader picture of what is driving Kenosha County health costs, said Geoff Schick, community initiative director for DaimlerChrysler in Kenosha. Employees at DaimlerChrysler and elsewhere have open network health plans that allow them to choose from a wide range of health care providers.
"These issues are not exclusive to just DaimlerChrysler employees," Schick said. "These issues reach across the entire community. We want to bring a sectors together to try and find answers."
The two-year study, known...