GE Pitches In $6 Billion to Improve Nation’s Health Care

The problems with the U.S. health system and what should be done to improve it has been the subject of debate for decades—but little more than talk has been accomplished. Health care costs are rising at five times the rate of inflation, some 47 million Americans have no health insurance, and unnecessary medical accidents, errors, and poor quality are the nation’s third leading cause of death, just behind cancer and heart disease. But health care reform is an issue that President Barack Obama has made clear he has every intention of aggressively pursuing. “Nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough,” Obama said in his February 24 address to Congress. “So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.” Apparently General Electric Co. shares the President’s vision and is pitching in to help.

GE announced it is launching a $6 billion, six-year initiative dubbed “healthymagination” that will focus on lowering the cost of health care while also improving access and quality. “Health care is an important industry that is challenged by rising costs, inequality of access and persistent quality issues,” said GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. “Health care needs new solutions. We must innovate with smarter processes and technologies that help doctors and hospitals deliver better health care to more people at a lower cost.”

An estimated $3 billion will be spent on 100 new health care-related products designed to lower costs, improve quality of care and increase people’s access to services and technologies for health, reaching 100 million more people each year. “This reflects the new opportunities we see in health care,” Immelt said. “Our newest innovations—low-cost digital X-ray machines, portable ultrasounds, more affordable cardiac equipment—will save costs for doctors, hospitals, the government, families and businesses. This will help level the playing field in health care. With our technology, rural and urban areas and developing countries can have access to the best technology, affordably.”

Another $2 billion will be spent on improving medical information technology systems in rural areas of the U.S. It will also provide additional funding to expand clinics in Cambodia and for maternal health care programs in Bangladesh. Another $1 billion will be spent on partnerships with other companies, media content and related services.

GE plans to draw on resources across its divisions, including GE Healthcare, GE Capital, GE Water, GE Global Research Center, NBC Universal, NBC News, as well as the GE Foundation, the philanthropic branch of GE, and will launch a daily program devoted to health on MSNBC in June.

GE will also create a Healthy Advisory Board who will report on the progress of “healthymagination,” which will include former U.S. senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle. “We can only find real solutions in health care when business, government and their partners work together,” Daschle said in a statement.

Of course, GE isn’t going to be a loser in the situation. GE Healthcare, a $17 billion division, is expected to grow up to three times faster than the U.S. gross domestic product. In addition, GE Healthcare’s earnings are expected to easily pay for healthcare costs of the corporation’s more than 300,000 employees, who produce everything from light bulbs to aircraft engines. GE said the difference between GE Healthcare’s earnings and its employee health care costs is $500 million, and growing. “Healthymagination is our business strategy that seeks to help people live healthier lives, support customer success and help GE grow,” Immelt said. “We will invest in innovations that measurably improve cost, access and quality. That means lower-cost technology for more customers, products matched to specific local needs and process expertise to help customers win.”