Does IBM get a better rate for Health Insurance than Joe's Garage?

[Winterblues]

Why is that? I remember when Clinton promised lower rates for everyone because it would have even more clout than IBM to negotiate rates...Republicans hated that idea..

[WeDidIt]

1. #1, IBM Self Insures

#2, IBM Has about 200,000 Domestic employees.

That's a hell of a pool for price negotiations.

[NNN0LHI]

7. I think most large companies do the same thing

My employer, Ford, self insures and pays Blue Cross a percentage to do the paperwork.

Don

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. Generally yes, but it depends....

A larger employer can typically get a better deal on health care by negotiating costs and by having a larger pool.

Now if Joe's Garage enters a cooperative group (with lots of other Garage's in his state/region) he can probably get a decent deal.

[meegbear]

3. I'm not sure, it wasn't very large ...

there was just enough room to cram the drums in the corner, over by the Dodge.

[Redstone]

4. Economy of scale. "Buying in bulk" gets you a lower price.

Redstone

[napi21]

5. Of course tthey do, they get better rates than the co. I worked

for too. The more employees you have in the plan, the broader the age range so the broader the risk. Our Co. had 350 employees, but nowhere near the # IBM has. That's why the Public option was so popular. The membership base would/could have been millions! Joe's garage maybe has 5 employees so the risk is higher and the rates are too.

[undeterred]

6. Manpower is one of the largest employers in the world.

When I worked for them they "offered" a choice of 3 plans that they didn't pay any portion of. And this was for long term employees. The only decent plan was $500 a month for a single person.

[FarCenter]

8. Some large employers also have healthier employees

Medical costs depend on age distribution, sex of employees, general fitness, region of the country, type of work employees do, socioeconomic status of employees, etc.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. The real solution is to expand the pool to include 350 million Americans