[Vision2020] Wake Up WalMart Update

Thu Feb 23 18:16:10 PST 2006

What I find interesting is that many people would give any credibility  to WakeupWalMart.com when it is headed by the director of the largest  union in the United States. This guy is making lots of money on this  anti-Wal-Mart campaign. 

 The fact that 57% of Wal-Mart  employees do not get their health insurance from Wal-Mart is not  SHOCKING. According to the US World Almanac 60% of all Americans do not  get their health insurance from their employees. 

 Going to  Wake Up Wal-Mart dot com for factual information about Wal-Mart is like  going to North Korea to find out about US foreign policy or a KKK rally  to learn about diversity.

 I understand Wal-Mart has some  problems, and has lots of room for improvement. But let us not lose  sight of the fact that Wake-Up Wal-Mart dot com was a website generated  by Wal-Mart competitors that are making millions off attacking Wal-Mart  with distorted information. 

  _DJA

Mark Solomon <msolomon at moscow.com> wrote:    Re: [Vision2020] Wake Up WalMart  Update  and right on the heels of the report is this.
  mark.
  *********
  Wal-Mart to Loosen Health Insurance  Limits

  By MICHAEL BARBARO
  Published: February 23, 2006

  Wal-Mart Stores, facing a raft of state legislation that would require  it to increase spending on employee health insurance, will lift several  of its long-standing - and most-criticized - restrictions on  eligibility over the next year, the giant retailer said this morning.

  The changes, which Wal-Mart's chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., will  formally announce before a meeting of the nation's governors on Sunday,  underscores how big a public relations threat the health care issue has  become for the nation's largest private employer.

 Wal-Mart  insures less than half of its 1.3 million employees in the United  States and has come under growing criticism for skimping on benefits  and shifting the cost of health care to state governments. In the past  two months, the Maryland Legislature passed a law that would force  Wal-Mart to improve its benefits and legislatures in a dozen more  states, including California, Washington and Rhode Island, are  considering similar bills.

 The new eligibility rules at  Wal-Mart are intended to increase the number of employees who can  access the company's insurance plan, but it was unclear how significant  the impact would be because Wal-Mart released little detailed  information.

 What is clear is that Wal-Mart would still  require workers, whose average pay is less than $20,000 a year, to pay  hefty annual deductibles and monthly premiums.

 Wal-Mart said  it would "significantly" reduce the waiting period before a new  part-time employee is eligible for insurance, but it declined to  specify by how much. Today, part-time workers must wait two years,  compared with 180 days for full-time employees.

 In addition,  the company will allow part-time employees to enroll their children in  the company's health insurance plan. Until now, Wal-Mart covered only  the children of full-time workers.

 At the same time, Wal-Mart  said it would make a new health-care plan introduced in several regions  this year, with premiums as low as $11 a month, available to half of  its employees by next year.

 That plan allows for several  prescriptions and doctors visits before a $1,000 deductible kicks in.  But it is unlikely to cover a complicated illness or expensive hospital  stay during the first year, when there is a $25,000 insurance cap. In  addition, out-of-pocket payments range from $300 for prescriptions to  $1,000 for hospital stays.

 Wal-Mart also said it would expand  the use of in-store clinics to treat employees. Such clinics, which the  company set up in Northwest Arkansas as a test six months ago, are  intended for non-emergency medicine, like flu shots.

  "We are trying to make our plans more relevant, accessible and  affordable," said Mona Williams, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

  Asked how many workers are expected to enroll in the company's health  insurance plan after the changes, she said: "We think these  enhancements are a step in the right direction for associates but don't  yet know how they affect take rates."

 It is unclear how much  the new plan will cost Wal-Mart, a number that investors will be  anxious to learn given Wal-Mart's no-frills business model, which  emphasizes low labor costs. Ms. Williams said the plan was factored  into Wal-Mart's profit forecast for 2006, which the company announced  earlier this week.

 The changes represent a significant  victory for Wal-Mart critics, particularly organized labor, who contend  the retailer has skimped on benefits and shifted health costs to state  governments.

 The groups have tried, with apparent success, to  turn Wal-Mart into a symbol of what is wrong with American health care,  triggering legislation in numerous states that is directed squarely at  Wal-Mart.

  At 2:14 PM -0800 2/23/06, TIM RIGSBY wrote:
    From  Wakeupwalmart.com    
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  You are not going to believe this. Wal-Mart’s health care spending per  employee actually went down, and the number of Wal-Mart workers without  company health care has risen to a whopping 775,000 workers or 57% of  the company.

 In response, our campaign is releasing a  shocking new report titled, “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves: The Growing  Cost of the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis.” The report estimates the  Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis cost American taxpayers nearly $1.4 billion  in 2005 with a projected cost over the next five years of $9.1 billion.

  Please download your copy of the shocking report and take action  today:
  http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/redirect/healthcrisis

  As you know, we have been working vigorously to enact Fair Share Health  Care legislation all across America to stop corporations, like  Wal-Mart, from shifting their health care costs onto taxpayers.  Although Wal-Mart and its allies are spending untold sums of money and  hiring lobbyists in every state to defeat us, the will of the American  people cannot be stopped.

 We are launching a new tool on our  website to help you make your voice heard in your local community. You  now have the ability to find your local newspaper and submit a letter  to the editor by going to WakeUpWalMart.com

  Please make your voice heard on the Wal-Mart health care crisis by  going to:
  http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/redirect/healthletter

  Wal-Mart’s shockingly bad health care numbers prove more than ever how  important it is to build public pressure to change this corporation. We  need your help now! We have to grow our movement from 182,000  supporters today to 1 million supporters. As our grassroots army  becomes larger, we will become an even more powerful force for change.

  Only you have the power to change Wal-Mart and change America. Make  sure to download your copy of the “America Pays, Wal-Mart Saves” report  and ask your friends, family members and co-workers to join our  movement to change Wal-Mart and build a better America.

  Thank you for all that you do,

  Paul Blank
  WakeUpWalMart.com

  <html><div>Revolution is not a word but an application; it  is not war but peace; it does not weaken, but strengthens. Revolution  does not cause separation; it generates togetherness. <BR>-John  Africa, <EM>Strategic  Revolution</EM></div></html>

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