Wal-Mart & The Sorry State of US Health Care

Wal-Mart recently announced that it is launching a new health care plan for its employees by 2006, with premiums lowered by 40 – 60%. However, deductibles for its employees will range from $1,000 for individuals to $3,000 for families.

Wal-Mart, like many other companies, is facing health care costs that are spiraling out of control. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of the company’s employees are drawn from the most vulnerable socioeconomic groups – those with the greatest health care needs, and the least ability to pay them. In the meantime, Wal-Mart’s rival Costco Wholesale has taken a very different approach to covering its workers, and as a result, has been rebuked by Wall Street.

With the recent release of a Wal-Mart company memo to the company’s Board of Directors detailing various strategies to cut health care costs, including “hiring a healthier workforce [which] will lead to lower health insurance costs, lower absenteeism through fewer sick days, and higher productivity,” the company is in the forefront of a national debate about health care coverage for the nation’s labor force.

As health care costs continue to outstrip inflation, can we no longer rely on employers to provide health care coverage for workers? Professor Carolyn Watts – a health professor at the University of Washington – wonders in a recent NYT article if this the government’s responsibility or employer’s. What are your thoughts?