The New York Times reports that General Motors is the nation's largest private purchaser of health services and of drugs such as Viagra and Lipitor. The Times says "the projected cost of providing health care benefits to current and future retirees ... is a staggering $63 billion." (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/business/15retire.html)
The paper points out that GM's rivals in Japan and Germany "have virtually no retirees from their newer operations in the United States and, at home, the expenses are largely assumed by taxpayers through nationalized health care systems."
"To saddle the cash flow of American businesses with an obligation that other competitors do not have creates serious long-run disadvantages," said Uwe Reinhardt, a Princeton University economist specializing in health issues.