Deere and Company

Abstract

Deere and Company has been self-insuring and self-administering its employee health benefits for the past eight years. For a number of reasons, Deere has perhaps more opportunity to control health care costs than many employers. First, we have a large number of United States employees and retirees, currently totalling 56,000; with dependents, the covered group totals some 150,000 people. Second, our covered population is concentrated in small geographic areas—about 80 percent of them live in four locations—which gives us visibility and influence in our discussions with providers. Third, unlike many large corporations, Deere offers one consistent profile of benefits to all beneficiaries, a fact that greatly facilitates our claims management efforts. Finally, Deere owns an insurance company subsidiary.