Wal-Mart on healthcare
From the Center for American Progress:
Yesterday, Wal-Mart, the largest private employer in the country, joined the SEIU and the Center for American Progress, sent a letter to President Obama voicing support for an employer mandate to be included in health care reform. "We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage," the letter states, adding, "From a business perspective, health reform could not be more critical." The Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky notes that an employer mandate makes sense from a business perspective because "all firms would benefit from the reduction in unpaid medical bills incurred by the uninsured, increased productivity through improved worker health and labor force participation, and the savings due to a reduced rate of health-care cost growth." The Hill’s Jeffrey Young writes that Wal-Mart’s departure from the ideological stance favored by the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups "marks the first visible crack in the business coalition on health care reform." However, Wal-Mart argues that if expected gains don’t materialize, the legislation should include certain "triggers" that "automatically enforces reductions" in their health care costs. Nevertheless, the shift is a win-win for reformers because the "nation’s largest employer has embraced a mechanism that enhances the existing system of employer-based coverage" and "levels the playing field between employers and preserves the employer contribution." In fact, the willingness of the business community, first climate change and now over health care, to depart from the Chamber’s conservative ideology "is an important sign of change in the air."
