Wal-Mart Healthcare

In what may be the start of a trend, the Maryland legislature passed a law Thursday that would require Wal-Mart stores to increase spending on employee health insurance:

The legislature's move, which overrode a veto by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, was a response to growing criticism that Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has skimped on benefits and shifted health costs to state governments.

The vote came after a furious lobbying battle by Wal-Mart and by labor and liberal groups, and is likely to encourage lawmakers in dozens of other states who are considering similar legislation.

Many state legislatures have looked to Maryland as a test case, as they face fast-rising Medicaid costs, and Wal-Mart's critics say that too many of its employees have been forced to turn to Medicaid.

Under the Maryland law, employers with 10,000 or more workers in the state must spend at least 8 percent of their payrolls on health insurance, or else pay the difference into a state Medicaid fund.

Wal-Mart has come under severe criticism because it insures less than half its United States work force and because its employees routinely show up, in larger numbers than employees of other retailers, on state Medicaid rolls.

In response to the complaints, the company introduced a new health care plan late last year, with premiums as low as $11 a month.

Consumer advocates specializing in health care are hoping that the Maryland law will be the first of many.

"You're going to see similar legislation being introduced," said Ronald Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a nonprofit health advocacy organization, "and debated in at least three dozen more states, and at least some of those states will end up also requiring large employers to provide health care coverage."

Mr. Pollack suggested that he did not expect any groundswell of opposition from corporate America. Most companies, he said, provide insurance and know that the costs of medical treatment for uninsured people are reflected in their insurance premiums. Mr. Pollack said that, by his organization's calculations, the cost of such treatment drove up employer premiums by $922 a family last year. In 2006, he said, the added cost could reach $1,000 a family.

Comments

[bob]

has anyone seen this:

http://www.thewalmartmovie.com

seems interesting

[Nate]

Thanks for this Alain. You might be interested in the following piece on an organization of WalMart workers: http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=06/01/03/199257&mode=nested&tid=4
best,
Nate

[bju43@yahoo.com]

All this does is ensure that Walmart will only hire healthy, ie younger, workers. Just like tax breaks for health care benefits ensures that health care prices exceed inflation, because it is tax free.

[Nate]

All this does is ensure that Walmart will only hire healthy, ie younger, workers.
No. It also means that current WalMart workers in some places will find themselves with an employer who apportions a tiny bit more toward their healthcare, and that the next generation of younger health-screened WalMart employees will be a tiny bit better off if they have the misfortune to need their health coverage. These differences are nowhere near enough, but they do make a difference for WalMart employees.