the council on wage and price stability issued an extensive report dealing with employee health care benefits and labor and management-sponsored innovations in controlling health care costs six case studies from that report are excerpted and summarized in this article to illustrate proven ways of reducing health care costs the six ways are: (1) prospective review of elective surgery (the united storeworkers union); (2) prospective review of dental care (the united federation of teachers welfare fund in new york city); (3) consumer leverage on prescription prices (the international ladies garment workers union); (4) claims review and information management (rockwell international); (5) self-insurance -- reforming the health care system (the goodyear tire and rubber company); and (6) industry support (the genessee valley group health association of new york). generally, changing the utilization patterns offers potentially more comprehensive solutions than controls on specific costs. however, comprehensive approaches require a long lead time and intensive participation by supporters