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No, not that GM. It's the car company.


GM Spends $17 Million Per Year on Viagra


By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 18, 2006


Lifestyle drugs -- chiefly Viagra -- are costing General Motors $17 million dollars a year and the cost is passed along to car, truck and SUV consumers. The blue pill is covered under GM's labor agreement with United Auto Workers, as well as benefit plans for salaried employees.

GM executives estimate health care adds $1,500 to the price of each vehicle but they do not break out how much of the premium is caused by erectile dysfunction expenses. GM provides health care for 1.1 million employees, retirees and dependents and is the world's largest private purchaser of Viagra.

GM recently raised the co-pay for erectile dysfunction drugs to $18 under a new agreement with the UAW and the company has also pared benefits for salaried workers.

The automaker spends almost $5.6 billion each year on health care. While lifestyle drugs are a small fraction of the total medical bill, every health care expense is added into the price of every new vehicle and is a drag on the struggling goliath's earnings.

Given the large number of aging autoworkers in the U.S., the industry?s Viagra tab and bill for other erectile dysfunction drugs is certain to continue rising.

Neither Ford nor Chrysler will disclose the amount spent on erectile dysfunction drugs.

While many government and company health plans have eliminated impotence drugs from coverage plans, GM has more than two retirees for every active worker on its rolls and must negotiate eliminating the drugs from the union health plan with the UAW.

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Can't we all go further in debt to finance this type of spending?

Oh for cryin out loud.... lots of insurance plans cover viagra... It's not just GM's...

Sounds like your talking from experience!

So it looks like the auto industry has been screwing itself in more ways than one.

It's hard to argue that....

They should erect a statue to whoever made this business decision.

If this thread lasts longer then 4 hours I am seeking medical attention.

Quote:

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Sounds like your talking from experience!

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Not yet, but it can happen at any time I guess

And yea, I think my plan does cover it.... someday., that may come in handy (no pun intended)

I'll bet thats where the Pontiac guys came up with the 'Driving Excitement "slogan

These guys suck at pun threads.

17 million to keep alot of ladies happy,


I bet it would cost alot more to buy beer and to get the same effect.

and yes most insurance plans do cover viagra,

Wonder how much it cost to record those stupied viaga commercials, I know when me & my friends are sitting arund playing card we don't just break into a viaga jingle

Dang GM if it cost u that much to get to get it up it just ain't worth it boy.

I guess they just enjoy it as they limp through life.

I just knew you wood go there.

There are benefits for being a union member.

btw, don't they realize how that expense is hard on health care costs for all.

It must be really hard to remove Viagra from the plan.

But if GM ( the poster ) had Viagra covered in HIS insurance plan, woodie want to give up that benifit if it elevated his self esteem?

That would be a hard call to make. And he might look to another insurance company. I've heard there's stiff competition among health insurers.

i wonder if anyone will pitch a tent outside gm's headquarters in detroit in complaint

Maybe for a while. But it would eventualy come down.

But, I'm sure that in time, it would rise again!

If they take this away it might be hard on some of the older employees though...

So what? It's 17 million into the economy. Think of it as a stimulus package.

KI hear that GM is bringing back their old jingle ..... with a modern twist ......



"Baseball, Hot Dogs, Viagra and Chevrolet ........"

And the taxpayers will pay for this in a bailout.. yet again we get the shaft.

Shouldn't we be used to that by now?


Bad business (and impossible business models) cannot be propped up forever.

If this were merely a case of trying to get through this particular credit crunch, then I might go along. However .... the roots of GM's problems go far deeper than that.

It's much like the guy who uses credit cards to pay for his living expenses, only to find out that he's put himself in an even bigger hole. If a company can't afford to pay its bills and responsibilities now, how is piling on more debt supposed to help?

GM in particular is living "paycheck to paycheck" right now. Increasing its debt load isn't likely to be a sound long term solution.

What's the old saying, "You can't borrow your way out of debt." ???