Political Quotes

“What they are doing is they are educating their employees not only to help their business, to control costs, but more importantly they are improving the lives of their employees by having their employees understand how to live healthy lives. They are controlling their costs in the last 4 to 5 years, providing--not cutting back on benefits. You talk about companies that are controlling health care costs and the critique always is, ``Well, they cut their benefits.'' Prince, again this word we do not use in Washington, they have benchmarked their benefits against the quality employers in west Michigan. Their benefits package is competitive. Their costs are anywhere from 20 to 40 percent lower, offering the same benefits because their experience curve has shown that their health care costs are going to be lower because of this changed behavior. One more thing: The other thing they have done is they have gotten their employees to be consumers, understanding the long-term benefits but also being purchasers of health care.”