[Vision2020] Wal-Mart and the health care burden

[Jeff Harkins]

What a surprise - a local business owner doesn't want enhanced 
competition.  It has been many years now, but as I recall, Mr. 
Connelly did not want a WalMart store here initially either.

Many of us wane (no wax) over the loss of Schweitzer Eng to Pullman.

The health care/insurance issue is a very complex issue.  First, the 
question of benefits offered by WalMart.  Here is an excerpt from 
their employment op page:


Our health care benefits offer associates peace of mind and the 
ability to care for themselves and their families.
Associates' Medical Plan
    * Protection from the unexpected-that's the goal of the 
Associates' Medical Plan. If a major or unexpected medical event 
occurs, the coverage is there to help associates. The Associates' 
Medical Plan is designed to protect associates from catastrophic loss 
and financial ruin.
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
    * In addition to the Associates' Medical Plan, HMO plans are 
offered in some facilities.
STARBRIDGE
    * STARBRIDGE, a limited medical plan, is available to associates 
and their families during an eligibility waiting period and to 
temporary associates.
Aflac Cancer Insurance
    * This supplemental insurance plan helps reduce financial worries 
if cancer strikes Associates or their family.
Dental
    * A bright smile is one of associates' greatest assets. The 
Dental Plan provides associates with a way to keep it looking great. 
Under this Plan, associates have access to a network of general 
dentists and specialists who have agreed to provide dental care at 
discounted fees.
Life Insurance
    * We want our associates to be prepared. Life insurance offers 
financial protection for associates and their families in case of 
death.   Full-time eligible associates receive Company-Paid Life 
Insurance. Associates also may apply for additional coverage for 
themselves, their spouse, or their dependent children.
Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance (AD&D)
    * AD&D insurance plans offer financial protection for associates 
and their families in case the associate or a dependent suffers a 
serious injury or death.
Business Travel Accident Insurance
    * We offer associates even more protection when they travel on 
company business by providing Business Travel Accident Insurance.
Disability Plans
    * It is important for associates to think about protecting their 
families. Both Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance can help 
protect an associate's family should the associate become suddenly 
ill or injured.
This plan compares favorably with many US plans, but most 
importantly, it compares rather well with the plan offered by our 
largest employer, UI.  Frankly, I am puzzled by the lack of righteous 
indignation over the cuts and changes to the UI Health Coverage - 
especially  the changes that impacted part-time and retired employees.

But the essence of understanding the health insurance issue is to 
decide who should pay the cost of health benefits. Classically, the 
issue has been sorted out by one's perspective of our social 
system.  Those with a foot or two into the "everyone is entitled to 
basic health care" camp would usually advocate that the government 
provide for basic health care.  Thus the US taxpayer foots the bill.

Others argue that (in some form or other) employers should foot the 
bill because ... well, it is not clear to me how they argue this.

What my background and experience have taught me is that employers 
will offer various benefit packages in order to attract the folks 
they want to attract to their firm. As far as I can tell, no business 
as yet (in our country) owes anyone a job - jobs are opportunities 
offered to folks - the folks can decide if they want the job or 
not.   In past decades, employers offered rather rigid plans, without 
much in the way of choice to employees, ie, the one size fits all 
model.  Recent advances in benefit plans have offered employees 
choices (major med, dental, eye, HMO, etc) through various types of 
"cafeteria" plans.  People can tailor their benefit package to fit 
their particular need.

Of particular interest to some of you (many professional-type 
positions) is that many firms are experimenting with providing higher 
pay and offering no additional benefits.  This provides those 
employees with enough resources to make their own choices about how 
to provide health insurance, etc.

But here is the bottom line - who should pay (is responsible for) the 
cost of health (and other) benefits.

Should taxpayers be responsible for the cost, should employers (and 
hence consumers) be responsible, should the individual be 
responsible?  This is the discussion that needs to take 
place.  Arguing about whether WalMart or any other individual 
employer offers too little, too much or whatever is a ruse - not a 
useful discussion.

The cites regarding health insurance coverage provided by Ms. Opyr 
demonstrates my point quite clearly.  Here are the exact cites for 
Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Vermont (I added the bold, 
colored italicized text):

Montana

In June 2005 the Great Falls Tribune examined records for the state's 
CHIP program and found that the private employer with the largest 
number of workers with dependents receiving the health insurance was 
Wal-Mart. Its 193 employees using CHIP represented about 4 percent of 
the company's workforce in the state. Other companies high on the 
list were McDonald's, Pizza Hut, NAPA Auto Parts and Subway.

Source: Mike Dennison, "State Insurance for Kids Going to Employees 
You Might Not Expect," Great Falls Tribune, June 26, 2005, p.16A.

Nebraska

In October 2005 the Nebraska Health and Human Services System 
reported that an estimated 9,369 workers and an unknown number of 
their dependents were receiving benefits through the state's Medicaid 
program. Leading the list was Wal-Mart with 654 workers and Tyson with 548.

Source: Paul Hammel, "Thousands with Jobs are on Medicaid Rolls," 
Omaha World-Herald, October 19, 2005.

New Hampshire

In May 2005 the Associated Press reported that it had obtained a 
report from the state Department of Health and Human Services on 
those employers in New Hampshire with the most workers (or their 
dependents) enrolled in Medicaid or the Healthy Kids Silver program. 
The employer at the top of the list in both categories was Wal-Mart, 
which had 487 of its 8,500 workers in the state getting subsidized 
coverage. Also high on the list were the state government, Dunkin' 
Donuts, the supermarket chain Shaw's, Concord Hospital, nursing-home 
operator Genesis and the U.S. Postal Service.

Source: Norma Love, "State, Retail Workers High on List of Needing 
Health-care Subsidy," Associated Press, May 12, 2005.

Vermont

In April 2005 the Vermont Guardian reported that it had obtained data 
from the state's Department for Children and Families on families 
enrolled in Medicaid that had someone employed by a large company or 
a government agency. The state government itself was said to account 
for largest number of such employees with 481. Among the 
private-sector companies with the most workers using Medicaid were 
Price Chopper (443), McDonald's (290), Hannaford (288) and Wal-Mart 
(286). Among industry groups, grocery stores accounted for the 
largest number at 1,036.

Source: Kathryn Casa, "Employees at Vermont's Top Companies Enrolled 
in Medicaid Health Plans," Vermont Guardian, April 18, 2005. Some of 
the numbers cited above came from a copy of the data prepared for 
Casa that was provided to Good Jobs First by the Department for 
Children and Families.

You will find a similar pattern throughout the other cites provided 
in the post by Ms. Opyr.  While WalMart appears at the head of the 
list in many of the cites, that is probably due to the size of the 
workforce employed by WalMart relative to other employers in the 
state.  Of particular note is that the percentage of Walmart's 
employees using state medicaid is a small percentage of Walmart 
employees as a whole (look at cites above - Montana - 4% and New 
Hampshire 5.7%.

What is very clear is that the overwhelming majority of Walmart 
employees are covered by a health plan of some kind.

Again, the issues here really are two-fold:
    * What system should be in place to provide health coverage for Americans?
    * Who should pay for it?
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20051125/50db7df1/attachment-0001.htm