Already up 11 percent this year, the costs of health insurance threaten the country's fiscal health and well-being unless we can address root causes, said Neil Foley, New York State United Teachers' director of legislation.

"This is all going to require a tremendous amount of work and a tremendous amount of cooperation between labor and management to arrive at the common goal of reining in costs," he told an October forum on health-insurance costs held by the Health Policy Consortium of the Capital Area.

Foley represented NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin, who sits on the state AFL-CIO's health insurance subcommittee and chairs a task force on prescription drugs.

"There is not a silver bullet, but there are public/private sector options that can be used to control health insurance costs," Foley said. They include employee education, such as on-site programs and literature on ergonomics, self-examinations and diabetes awareness, and greater emphasis on quality care and diagnostic procedures.

"Government will not be the sole answer," he said.

The economic picture is more clouded following the devastation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he said. The tragedy has had a tremendous impact on the economy of the city, state and country, as well as the world.

"We still don't know and won't know for a long time how great that impact will be," said Foley.

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