Partnering for Healthier Employees and a Stronger GE

Part of the strength of healthymagination comes from the 300,000 GE employees and their family members who are fully engaged in HealthAhead—a term we use to describe GE’s culture of health.

HealthAhead is a partnership between GE and our employees to help each other achieve our best. For employees, it means having access to the tools, resources and encouragement needed to make the best possible choices. For the company, it helps ensure that we can compete in markets around the world.

After one full year of HealthAhead, this partnership has developed real momentum. Many of the details are included in this report. Highlights include the more than 100 sites that were HealthAhead certified as of May 2011, with another 300 expected this year. Additionally, as part of the overall effort to help people make healthy choices, 120 GE sites have become tobacco-free over the past two years. We are committed to helping all campuses become tobacco-free by November 2011. As part of this effort, we estimate that 3,500 GE employees and family members have used company-sponsored programs to assist them in their decision to stop smoking.

“ HealthAhead is a partnership between GE and our employees to help each other achieve our best.”

- John G. Rice, Vice Chairman, GE; President and CEO, Global Growth and Operations

HealthAhead also includes a comprehensive approach to healthcare, particularly in the U.S., where we’ve seen rapidly rising costs. As a result, GE introduced a consumer-driven health plan for U.S. salaried employees in 2010. The plan provides high-quality benefits and financial protection while asking employees to share more of the cost and be more active in their healthcare spending and decision making. Early results are encouraging, as we’ve seen fewer emergency room visits for non-emergencies and greater use of generics over brand name drugs. In the first year, we saw a double-digit decrease in healthcare costs for this population of GE employees.

We know that we have more work to do, but are excited about our progress to date. I want to personally thank GE employees for everything they’ve done to get us where we are today. If we are successful, I believe our partnership will result in stronger, healthier individuals and a stronger GE.