At last, the taxpayers are catching
on to the Wal-Mart nonsense.

Joel

**

Wal-Mart-itis
Joel_Eichen   Feb 10 2001, 2:07 pm     show options

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Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 14:05:17 -0500
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Subject: Wal-Mart-itis
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Peter Meiers <PMei...@t-online.de> wrote in message

news:3A858AAD.63EC@t-online.de...

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why

REPLY:

There wouldn't be ... if we eliminated advertising and laid off all of the
cosmetic makeovers. These two combined, have caused the dental profession to
ignore dentistry and re-orient themselves towards Dental Cosmetology.

We are all trying to entice a single market into our offices and then do the
Dental Cosmetology 'thang. . How can a regular dentist compete when the
Wal-Marts come into your area? The regular dentists cannot compete. Hence
90% of the population suffers from Wal-Mart-itis.

  Peter Meiers   Feb 10 2001, 3:31 pm     show options

Posted on Mon, May. 16, 2005

R E L A T E D   L I N K S
.  Bills on health care coverage

Pa. to Wal-Mart: Pay up for health care

Lawmakers introduce a bill to make the
retailer cover the costs for more of its employees
so the state won't have to foot the bill.

By Amy Worden

Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania, like most states, has rolled out the red carpet
for Wal-Mart, offering up millions in tax incentives and grants over the
last decade to reel in the retail giant.

In return, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has delivered jobs - 40,000 of them - making
it the largest private employer in the state. But critics say the jobs have
come with a hidden cost: An unusually high percentage of Wal-Mart workers do
not have company-paid health insurance, leaving them to rely on
taxpayer-subsidized care.

Nobody knows how much such workers cost Pennsylvania taxpayers, although
several Democratic lawmakers claim it could be as much as $30 million a
year. The lawmakers, joining a well-financed national campaign led by labor
unions, have proposed legislation to get an exact answer.

The bill would require Pennsylvania companies with 20 or more employees to
issue annual reports stating how many of them are receiving Medical
Assistance. The bill is the first step, sponsors say, toward mandating that
large companies pay their fair share of health-care costs.

"Wal-Mart is the most notorious abuser of Medical Assistance programs
nationwide based on states that have done studies," said Rep. Mike Veon (D.,
Beaver), a cosponsor of the bill. "We need to find a way to encourage or
require employers to provide affordable health-care insurance."

Wal-Mart defends its health-benefits program. The company, based in
Bentonville, Ark., says it covers health care for more than half its
employees, and opens a route off state Medicaid rolls.

"It's important to note that Wal-Mart is providing access to health care
that people didn't receive before they came to us," spokesman Dan Fogleman
said.

Other states already have taken the next legislative step. In April, the
Maryland General Assembly approved a bill requiring companies employing more
than 10,000 people to spend 8 percent of profits made in the state on health
care. Only Wal-Mart qualifies under the bill, which the Republican governor
has vowed to veto.

In New Jersey, Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D., Camden) introduced a bill on
Thursday that would require employers with more than 10,000 workers to
increase the level of their health-care coverage or pay an additional $2.45
per worker hour into the state's Medicaid program. The target: Wal-Mart,
which employs 12,000 people in New Jersey.

"Wal-Mart must stop saddling taxpayers with employees' health-care bills,
and take the initiative to provide better health coverage on their own,"
Greenwald said in a statement.

A 2003 Harvard Business School case study found that Wal-Mart paid an
average $3,500 a year for employee health care, while the average for the
wholesale/retail sector was $4,800, and $5,600 per worker for all U.S.
employers.

The Harvard report offered the example of a worker earning $16,800 after
three years with Wal-Mart who did not have health insurance. "She felt that
she could not afford to enroll in Wal-Mart's medical plan because that would
have subtracted as much as $85 from her biweekly paycheck of $550, so she
did without and relied on Medicaid for her son," it said.

Studies conducted recently in 13 states show a high ratio of Wal-Mart
employees on Medicaid.

In Tennessee, for instance, almost 25 percent of Wal-Mart's 37,000 employees
are covered under the state's Medicaid program, according to a January
article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Business groups in Pennsylvania and elsewhere oppose the health-care bills,
saying they are the first step toward forcing employers to cover such
benefits. The proposals include small businesses, which say they can't
afford it.

"Instead of looking at how many employees are on Medical Assistance, we
should look at reasons why the companies can't afford health insurance,"
said Kevin Shivers, Pennsylvania state director of the National Federation
of Independent Business.

Wal-Mart has faced a slew of lawsuits in recent years over allegations of
sex discrimination, illegal hiring of immigrants, and child-labor practices.
But it is the health-care issue that has prompted legislation aimed largely
at Wal-Mart in as many as 11 states.

A company spokesman said that Wal-Mart did not oppose all disclosure bills -
only those that it felt unfairly targeted Wal-Mart.

"They are nothing more than a political attempt by organized labor to make
Wal-Mart less competitive in certain states," said Nate Hurst, a Wal-Mart
spokesman.

Wal-Mart says 56 percent of its workers are covered through the company's
health plan. Premiums start at $40 a month for single workers and $155 for
families. The rest are covered by other private and public health plans.

But critics say Wal-Mart's long waiting period to qualify for health
coverage (six months for full-time employees and two years for part-timers),
coupled with the health program's $1,000 deductible, keeps it out of reach
for most working families.

As a result, critics say, families are turning to public aid just as most
states and the federal government are seeking to scale back Medicaid.

In Pennsylvania, the legislature must close a $400 million deficit in the
budget of the Department of Public Welfare before the fiscal year starts
July 1. Hospitals and health-care advocates oppose Gov. Rendell's proposal
to reach that goal by limiting benefits and increasing copays for
recipients.

Veon, the Beaver County Democrat, would like to see his bill included in the
2005-2006 budget package to be considered by the General Assembly next
month. Kate Philips, the governor's spokeswoman, said Rendell supported the
spirit of the bill but had not yet taken a position.

"The governor believes that anyone working full time should be able to
survive without depending on the state," Philips said.

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Contact staff writer Amy Worden at 717-783-2584 or aworden@phillynews.com

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