| February 26, 2006--Wal-Mart Store, Inc. CEO Lee Scott spoke on "A New
Commitment for America." Wal-Mart, the largest employer in the United
States, has faced criticism for providing inadequate health benefits to
its employees. Maryland has even taken legislative action to address
the issue. On January 12, 2006 Maryland legislators overrode Gov.
Robert Ehrlich's veto and approved the Fair Share Health Care Fund Act,
requiring employers with 10,000 or more employees in the state to spend
at least 8% of total wages on health insurance costs or pay the difference.
(The law is facing a court challenge, but groups such as Wal-Mart Watch
and the United Food and Commercial Workers' WakeUpWalMart.com are seeking
to replicate the effort in other states). Scott denounced such measures
as "a little too much politics," noting that they "discourage companies
from offering quality health care at a lower cost" and "won't do a single
thing to control the cost of health care." He vowed that Wal-Mart
will "take significant steps to make our health benefits even more affordable
and accessible to the working families that we employ."
Specifically, he stated:
"First, we're going to significantly reduce the waiting period for our
part-time associates. Second, we'll be extending the availability
of our Value Plan for $11 per month and $.30 more a day for children to
about half of our associates within the next year. Third, all children
of part-time Wal-Mart associates will be eligible for health coverage as
soon as their parents become eligible."
Scott also spoke of Wal-Mart's experiments with health clinics in a
few of its stores. He emphasized the need to control costs.
"The fact is the soaring cost of health care in America cannot be sustained
over the long term by any business that offers health benefits to its employees,"
Scott said. He lauded the NGA's Healthy America initiative as "the
right kind of approach." |
