Wal-Mart Urges Governors on Health Care

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

He needs their help? Aren't a lot of Wal-Mart employees already recieving Medicaid in lieu of company provided insurance?

WASHINGTON - Wal-Mart's chief executive told America's governors on Sunday that he needs their help to make health care more affordable and accessible for the retail giant's 1.3 million U.S. employees because the company can't do it alone.

Lee Scott said Wal-Mart's health care costs have risen 19 percent in each of the last three years and that it's only a matter of time before it, along with other businesses, cannot sustain rising costs.

"We know our benefits at Wal-Mart stores are not perfect," Scott told the National Governors Association. "Do we want more of our associates' kids on our health plans? Of course we do."

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has been the target of harsh criticism from watchdog groups and organized labor for what they say are costly and inaccessible plans. Under mounting criticism Wal-Mart last fall offered new lower-premium insurance aimed at getting more of its work force on company plans.

The company announced last week it is expanding that effort.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060226/ap_on_bi_ge/governors_wal_mart

[wakeme2008]

1. I hate to be behind Walmart

but all US Business would be better off with NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE except the Insurance companies and drug companies.

[tsuki]

4. It will be an interesting clash of the Titans. Retailers, like Walmart,

and manufacturers vs. insurance and drug companies.

[wakeme2008]

7. IMHO GM AND FORD would be behind this ago

:)

[blondeatlast]

12. Yep--no matter how much it pains me (a LOT!) to agree with

Darth Wal-Mart.

[Orrin_73]

2. This is the largest company in the world isn't it?

and they can't pay their employees healthcare!!!

[justgamma]

3. Hey Walmart!

Why don't you lobby Congress and Shrub for universal healthcare? They're running the show and they are more likely to listen to you than to us.
Of course, I don't think I'd want them to "fix" healthcare after the fiasco with medicaid. Maybe if they would listen to some Democrats it would work.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. The company makes BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of dollars....

And they can't afford health care for their employees? I gotta call bullshit.
Duckie

[smtpgirl]

8. you are right YRD

it is total bullshit. Maybe Lee Scott should give up one of Walmart's corporate jets, then let's talk health care for the employees

[Botany]

6. This is one of the ways Wal-Mart keeps it's low prices.

They don't pay for the health care of most of it's employees.
They let the state government pick up the tab.

[Jayhawk Lib]

10. Do any other retailers pay for their employees health care?

I do not think any of them do but I could be wrong. It would seem that if they make Walmart pay, the others should be made to also.

To really be fair, anybody that hires people should be required to pay for their health care.

[Botany]

11. Some do and some don't but Wal-Mart has made it an art form by:

* Having people work 39.5 hrs but not 40 so they are not considered full time.

* Showing their employees how to fill out the paperwork for government assistance.

* Finding reasons to fire somebody who has health coverage but has medical problems.

* Making the price of the "company health care" so much that people who should get it
don't because they need the money to pay for food, rent, and other stuff.

[Jayhawk Lib]

14. What ever applies to Walmart should apply to all other

businesses. I really think that it would be a good idea to require that they pay for their employees health insurance whether they are part time or full time. That would eliminate the games they all play with part time employs. To pay for the insurance all they would have to do is charge a little more for the goods that they sell to us.

[reprobate]

17. That will not solve the health care financing crisis.

You will still have a market so fragmented by the number of carriers that there is no efficiency in the industry. For example, I was able to find listings for 4,200 life and health insurance carriers licensed in the country, and that does not include those corporations that are large enough to self insure.

For every carrier you have to figure between 25% and 40% of premiums going to administrative costs. With that many carriers you have no economy of scale, as you do with Medicare, which averages between 2% and 3% for administration.

A single payer system for the country would be the perfect example of the principle of insurance, which is to spread the risk of the individual among the largest pool possible. Not only could the premium be so much lower than with the current system, but the cost of drugs would be vastly lower if the big pharma corps had only ONE customer - the people of the United States.

You can buy drugs from Canada for at least 50% less than they retail for here. And that's retail. You could probably figure another 50% reduction if the government negotiated the prices for us.

No, JL, I really think the time of the individual corporate insurance carrier, payed for by the businesses is over. It's time we joined the rest of the world which learned long ago that the profit motive does not belong in health care financing. At least that's what I see after twenty years in the insurance industry.

[depakid]

18. What's more

is that with the fragmented system, you have to employ parasites whose sole job it is to try to find ways to people deny care! or avoid paying for routine prevention and management of say, diabetes- because they don't want to "encourage" diabetics to sign up with their plan. A 'lil adverse selection thing. They'd rather take the chance that people needing amputations or who wind up in end stage renal failure will be some other companies' (or medicaid/medicare's) problem.

It's an insane system.

And it can be even worse (for patients and families) when companies self-insure, due to this odious little deal called "ERISA preemption." Don't even get me started on that.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. KMart does

We were in KMart last night and I asked the girl who waited on us if she got health care and she said yes and it was a good plan.

[Coexist]

22. and I LOVE the quality of the Martha Stewart stuff there

it costs more than the cheaper stuff they sell, but you can compare the quality of the linens and kitchen implements with department store items, at half the cost.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. I like it too

They also have some nice clothes.

[mondo joe]

23. Walmart is not on aa level playing field with every other company.

Certainly not with small businesses.

Legislation in WA state may require its largest employers to provide healthcare.

In California, a potential bill would require employers with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of total wages on health benefits.

[Divernan]

9. Walmart takes ALL workers' comp cases to trial.

In workers' comp claims, private attorneys represent both the employers and the employees, but the attys. stay on their side of the courtroom, so to speak. In other words, an atty. who represents the workers/claimants never represents employers, and vice versa. In the Madison, Wisconsin area, Walmart retained the best workers' comp attorney who works on the employers' side. BUT, they refuse to take his advice when it comes to paying/settling valid claims. Walmart will NOT settle. Walmart prefers to pay more in attorneys' fees than it would have to pay to settle a case. Now the Wisconsin judges/hearing masters have figured out that Walmart is not honoring the system and are more likely to rule against Walmart.

Under the workmen's comp law, employees gave up the right to sue for pain and suffering, or punitive damamges in exchange for which the employers are SUPPOSED to pay all medical expenses for on-the-job injuries. So Walmart is enjoying the benefit of being protected from civil suits and potentially high jury verdicts, but is not fulfilling their side of the contract, to pay valid medical expenses for injured workers. I don't believe that Walmart execs give a tinkers' damn about the health of their employees or families/kids of employees.

[Jayhawk Lib]

15. Letter to editor Wichita Eagle 2-26-2006

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/13962526.htm




Solid employer

In response to the Blogatorial item "No will to punish Wal-Mart" (Jan. 27 Opinion), I would recommend the editorial board consider the rest of the story. I am a Wal-Mart employee and have been since 1990, when my primary insurance job went sideways.
For many years, I worked other jobs during the day and then went to Wal-Mart. Yes, I could have made better money in the short-term in insurance work, but it was always unstable while Wal-Mart was always there. Wal-Mart was a stable source of income.
At the same time, Wal-Mart represented a valuable source of health insurance at an affordable cost when compared to available individual insurance. I often joked I could work for nothing as long as Wal-Mart provided the benefits, because of the difference in cost. That was proved when I had to have a liver transplant this year that was substantially covered by Wal-Mart's insurance program. It allowed me the chance to receive excellent health care and a renewed chance at life -- which I greatly appreciate.
Moreover, the people who make up Wal-Mart, my fellow employees, the managers and corporate employees all supplied support to me and my wife, both emotionally and financially, during my illness. We will always remember them for this support.
The main thrust is that I don't know if you can ask more from a job from any employer.
B. CHARLES MORROW
Wichita

[CAG]

16. Wal-mart greedmongers vs healthcare greedmongers

For this OU fan, its like UT vs Notre Dame; who do I root against?

[madmark]

19. Will large American business start lobbying for expanded

medicaire for the general populace as way to reduce their costs? That will make for strange bedfellows.

[maxrandb]

20. Has our entire country gone "blanking" insane?

I'm not an econ major, but I don't lack in common sense. Recently there was a report about the 4 Walton children that control this company. Combined they are worth $200,000,000,000...THAT'S BILLION...WITH A "B".

Call me crazy, but for the life of me, I can't understand why you and I should be paying for their employees health care! I don't know, maybe I'm nuts, but it seems to me they might be able skimp and save and possibly squeeze by on $100,000,000,000.00. They might then, "Oh, I don't know", PAY A DECENT WAGE AND PROVIDE HEALTH CARE TO THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MADE THEM RICH. I know it would be tough for them. I mean, it's hard to scrape by with $100,000,000,000.00

Sorry to be all "bold and all-caps" on ya, but shit like this "makes my hair hurt".

About 50 years ago, the top executives at a corporation made, on average, about 15-20 times the salary of their highest paid hourly employee. Today those figures are 2,000 to 3,000 times the highest paid hourly employee. But, it is the employee that must make sacrifices!!!???

To put it in simple terms. The CEO of Ford in the 1950's made 20 times what the guy on the assembly line made. Today, he might make 3,000 times what the guy on the assembly line makes...AND IT'S THE UNIONS FAULT THAT FORD IS IN THE TANK!!??

[Coexist]

21. Nice rant - they could RAISE their prices to cover it!!!!

they can afford it - even it comes down to it - charge prices that allow for this.

For crying out loud - Wal-Mart is famous for twisting the screws into their suppliers, trying to get them to LOWER the prices they buy for every year.

That business model is insane, and has run many small suppliers out of business, sucked into the black hole comprised of them and small business owners that they have driven out of business in the past. All to provide us with $4.50 t-shirts that look like crap after 3 washings.

At least one business has said, "Enough Already - I would rather sell fewer than deal with you anymore."

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html
The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart
Every year, thousands of executives venture to Bentonville, Arkansas, hoping to get their products onto the shelves of the world's biggest retailer. But Jim Wier wanted Wal-Mart to stop selling his Snapper mowers.

This just about sums up Wal-Mart for me:
http://www.kuratrading.com/PDF/Walmart1.pdf
<snip>

Wal-Mart has also lulled shoppers into ignoring the difference between the price of something and the cost. Its unending focus on price underscores something that Americans are only starting to realize about globalization: Ever-cheaper prices have consequences. Says Steve Dobbins, president of thread maker Carolina Mills: "We want clean air, clear water, good living conditions, the best health care in the world--yet we aren't willing to pay for anything manufactured under those restrictions."

[Norquist Nemesis]

25. Not to worry--Andrew Young's on the job now!

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WAL_MART_YOUNG?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-02-27-07-25-47
Andrew Young to Head Pro-Wal-Mart Group
...
Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group of community leaders from across the country, was set to announce Monday that Young will be the chairman of its 16 member steering committee formed in December to counter charges from two union-backed groups that are pressuring Wal-Mart to improve wages and benefits.

Young said he will be a public face for the group, giving interviews and publishing opinion articles defending the company. "They are some of the best entry level jobs that are available to poor people. And they also make products available to the working poor," Young said in a phone interview from Atlanta.
...

[Javaman]

26. Watch the doc "the corporation", the only reason china-mart is doing this.

is because, higher health care cuts into their profits. Period. They can put all the lipstick they want on themselves but they are still pigs.

If there ever was a reason in this world to not trust china-mart and this scam about how they care about their employees health care, it is now.

There is money to be made for them.

If there was universal health care, they couldn't control their employees. As long as they hold the purse strings, they hold the power, they will never go for that.

Now not knowing the complete details about their new heartwarming health care for their employees, does it apply to everyone or only to full time employees????