Corporate perspectives held sway in a discussion of health insurance reform and the automotive industry at Phi Chi Theta’s fifth annual economic symposium, “Our Economy Now,” last evening in the University of Michigan Museum of Art in front of nearly 225 people.

Adriana Karaboutis, global manufacturing and labor relations information officer at General Motors Corp., and Jim Slubowski, chief investment officer and vice president of enterprise operations for Priority Health — a Michigan health insurance company — discussed how their respective corporations have handled the nation’s economic crisis and how the corporations plan to weather the imminent changes within their industries.

Karaboutis, who opened the symposium, attributed GM’s downturn to a combination of corporate hubris and uncontrollable factors like sudden changes in consumer behavior.

“For one thing, we thought we were invincible. But for another, the industry just tanked on us,” she said, adding that over-confidence gave way to caution as the company decided to accept the federal government’s bailout offer.

Karaboutis praised some of Ford Motor Company’s tactics for mitigating the effects of the economic downturn, like downsizing and mortgaging plants.

“(Ford) had good product, and GM had good product, but they got right-sized and they mortgaged their plants while they still could,” she said. “If you look at their balance sheet, it’s pretty rough now. But if the economy comes back, that means they’ll have been able to get through it without disappointing their shareholders and bondholders.”

Because of the federal bailout last spring, Karaboutis said the U.S. Treasury now owns about 61 percent of GM, while bondholders, the United Auto Workers health care trust fund and the Canadian government own the remaining shares.

Karaboutis said GM is taking a holistic approach to improve its business, continuing some of the reformative measures initiated prior to the bailout. Some goals center on consolidation of their brands, modifying corporate culture to improve employee satisfaction and a refined, IT-oriented focus on communication with customers.

“We’re looking at this from every corner of the company,” she said.

Karaboutis said the changes enacted thus far appear to have had a positive effect, as October 2009 was GM’s first year-over-year sales increase in 21 months.

Slubowski’s remarks were more focused on the future, as health insurance reform remains a hotly debated topic.

The current health care system is unsustainable because of poor coordination between insurance companies and care providers, a wasteful fee-for-service system — all of which exacerbate one another, according to Slubowski.

Slubowski added that grave but necessary considerations await health care consumers, most notably in the form of advance directives and end-of-life preferences, each of which can be problematic when neglected.

He mentioned a friend and lifelong smoker who died of cancer after months of costly treatment to illustrate the trend that most Medicare spending occurs in the last years and months of life. He said the poor quality of life his friend had in his last days made him question the prudence of the decision to keep receiving care.

“And, answering that, I have to know from an economic standpoint,” he said, “what did that cost? How many children could have been immunized?”

Both speakers stressed the importance of consumer responsibility in helping the health insurance and auto industries recover. In particular, Slubowski extolled healthy habits and keeping a personal health record in order to avoid disjointed care and higher costs.

“You are the best advocate for your own health and the health of the ones you love,” he said. “I don’t care if it’s electronic or on paper.