Last year there were more cars and trucks made in Ontario than in Michigan. The main reason for this is healthcare costs. In the US the automotive companies pay approx. $1500 per vehicle towards healthcare. This is because the US doesn’t have a national healthcare plan. In Canada it’s $300 per vehicle because we do have a national healthcare plan. It is important to note the Canadian healthcare plan is subsidized by it’s taxpayers.
My view is that if it’s the government’s responsibility to help/serve/protect its people, then it must provide no cost healthcare similar to what we have here in Canada (diff. topic and lets not digress here). This is one of the things that have been killing Ford, GM and Chrysler in the US. Take the number of cars that have been made in the US, times it by $1200 ($1500 - $300). And you can see how much the US taxpayer has been saving, relative to the Canadian taxpayer. Isn’t it time for the US taxpayer to anti up and pay their share? It should never be a company’s responsibility to pay for healthcare, that is the role of government.
Remember, Toyota and Honda don’t get hit nearly has hard here, because they have only been building cars in North America for around 20 years. They don’t have any retirees yet. But that won’t last forever.
