Higher health bills loom at Ford

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. salaried employees are bracing for big health insurance premium hikes and a small number of layoffs a week after some 6,000 of their colleagues left the company voluntarily under buyout programs.

In a webcast to white collar workers Wednesday, Ford Americas President Mark Fields said employees will have to shoulder more of their own medical costs as the company struggles to rein in spending. Workers were told in November to expect health care increases.

"We knew it was coming," said one staffer at Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn.

Ford salaried employees will see their premiums rise an average of 30 percent, their drug co-pays and deductibles also will increase, and they will have fewer health plans to choose from.

Merit pay increases have been suspended, and workers have new restrictions on sick days and personal days.

Ford will send an e-mail to all salaried employees today reminding them of the changes in advance of the open enrollment period, which starts April 3. The benefits changes will be effective in June.

Fields also told workers that Ford's voluntary buyout effort, which aimed to cut the equivalent of 10,000 salaried positions, persuaded some 6,000 workers to leave the company last week. A smaller number signed up for buyouts, but will not leave until later this year.

Fields said the final numbers have been tallied and sent to each department head. Those managers are working to determine whether the take rate was sufficient to meet their headcount reduction goals. Three out of 15 departments had too many people sign up for buyouts and were forced to rescind some offers that had already been accepted, but other departments did not have enough workers sign up and will be forced to issue pink slips to some employees to meet their targets, according to sources familiar with the process.

Fields said Wednesday that the layoffs are expected to be "minimal."

Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans confirmed that the final buyout numbers have been communicated to department heads, but she would not say how many departments missed their goals.

Including layoffs early last year, Ford hopes to have cut the equivalent of 14,000 salaried positions by 2008 through buyouts and layoffs.

"We're confident that we will meet that target," Evans said, noting that routine attrition and contract employee cuts also count. "It's based on costs, not numbers. That's why this analysis is still going on right now."

The threat of even a few more layoffs has many salaried workers on edge, as does the looming increase in health insurance costs.

You can reach Bryce Hoffman at (313) 222-2443 or bhoffman@detnews.com">bhoffman@detnews.com.