Top Ten Employers of BadgerCare Recipients

Interesting. Is it any wonder why Maryland passed its fair share Health legislation?

wow...wal-mart costs the taxpayers of wisconsin nearly four times as much as the next closest company.  you’re right larry, there is no suprise that maryland was just the begining of a taxpayer revolt in this country.

for too long wal-mart has been a deadbeat corporate citizen and their abuse of government rolls will no longer stand.

are there any numbers like this for other states?  is wal-mart the worst everywhere, or just one of the worst? (any of the wal-mart cheerleaders out there know?)

harold--

i agree with you, the entire health care system does need to be overhauled in this country.  but you are factually inaccurate in your account of the groundbreaking legislation coming out of maryland.

wal-mart is not being discriminated against in maryland.  maryland fair share health care includes all companies that employ 10,000+; wal-mart is one of four that this applies to (along with northup grumman, the johns hopkins, and giant foods.)

Harold in Dallas:

Your “overall point” makes no sense at all.  First of all, many smaller employers are already paying their “Fair Share” when it comes to providing healthcare for employees.

Your suggestion that “everyone” ( I assume you mean all employers) contribute the 8% is not feasible for smaller companies with far fewer employees than Wal-Mart.  This is like saying everyone should be required to drive a Lexus.  Now who can afford a Lexus more...someone earning in excess of $100,000 per year or someone earning less than $21,000 per year?

Screwed, the amount they pay in is based on there size.  That is why it is a % and not a fixed dollar amount.  Yes, some small companies are paying there fair share, but I don’t think you can say with certainty that all are.  Why should WM and other large companies foot the bill for them, just like why should tax payers foot the bill for Wal-Mart.  If everyone pays there fair share then everyone is happy.

You said that this is not feasible for companies with less emplyee’s than wal-mart.  What if I am a 2 person business and I make 2 million a year take home?  My company is small but I make many more times than a WM associate.

Harold I like your assessment of the healthcare plan.  I agree that healthcare in this country does need to be overhauled.  I see what you mean, have all companies big and small pay a fair share depending on the size of the company.

Harold-
“Yes, WM has the highest amount because they have more people employed.  If you looked at the avg cost per worker per company its all the same.  The question is if Target or any other company had the same amount of employees in the state would the % on badger care be the same.  We need to compare apples to apples.  We also need to look at avg cost per employee by company.

So how can we compare this to the Maryland issue.  Yes, WM has the bigger overall impact because of employee count, but lets say for example McDonalds employ’s only 8,000 people so they are exempt.  Well if the avg per person cost is $4000 for McDonalds and $2000 for Wal-Mart then Wal-Mart is being discriminated based on size.  McDonalds has the biggest impact per person.

My point in all of this is that everyone should have to pay in, not just certain companies.  Health care as a whole needs a overhaul.”

Harold in Dallas

You nearly hit the nail on the head, healthcare needs a complete overhaul.  I do believe that forcing companies to pay may be a mistake because it would then continue to allow insurers to continue to “rape” the American people.  The uninsured are not the cause for rising medical costs it is the insurers, that is where the healthcare debate belongs.  Actually I made a mistake, it is not completly the insurers fault.  It starts with laws that allow exorbant rewards on medical malpractice. That raises doctors insurance, then he raises his rates and the hospitals insurance goes up so they raise their prices then healthcare programs absorb those rates, then pass it on to us, all of us.  We end up paying the reward when someone sues a doctor for 500 mil dollars for an improper stiching that caused no harm other than discomfort, but the jury felt necassary to punish the surgeon , as if he did it deliberalty, and if that is the case his license should have been taken away.

M Cooper:

I think you have effectively identified some of the reasons why healthcare reform is so complex.

True reform has to take into account lawyers, greedy hospitals that are run as a corporation, the insurance industry...etc. etc.  All of these represent huge special interests too!  There is a lot of inertia and resistance to healthcare reform.  That’s why it’s wrong to say healthcare insurance is an “individual responsibility.” What individual can take on all of these special interest groups?

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, USA-

“What individual can take on all of these special interest groups?”

I agree, when health care is an issue to be addressed it needs to start at the top.  At the rate we are going there are not going to be any employers that can afford health care coverage.  The unions have used their leverage against corporations, and now that the insurance industry has a guaranteed income they have raised their rates, most new business cannot afford to pay it.  Unless the powerful unions intervene with the insurance and address the issue at the top we will see two American icons (Ford & GM)fade away into history. Mostly because of the cost to cover their employees health plan.  This will become a trend all across America.

M Cooper:

I naturally will have to disagree with you that it is solely the fault of unions why Ford and GM are in the fix they are in.  What about management’s responsibility?  For too many years, GM and Ford were busy cranking out the gas guzzling SUV’s.  Now that the price of oil is threatening to go through the roof, panic is breaking out in Detroit.

It’s funny how the Japanese auto makers could figure out how to build more fuel efficient cars years ago and have steadily been eroding U.S. automakers’ sales.  It isn’t the union that decides what vehicles to build.

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, USA

I do agree, Management does bear a lot of the responsibility.  They should have jumped off of the SUV wagon over a year ago but they did not.  They were left very little choice but to continue the SUV in hopes that it would leverage their brand.  What the Japanese is doing to the auto world is exactly what the Chinese are doing to the manufacturing world.  Unions welcomed the Japanese cars to the American people by forcing companies to pay more than they can afford in pay and benefits.  Yes management should have been more responsive, but they were not, and now their businesses are near bankruptcy.  If they were wise they would declare chapter 11 bankruptcy to get out from underneath the union contracts.  I expect by the time they do that, the market will be over saturated with foreign autos.
If the American people do not stop living above their means then our country will surely face another Great Depression.
It is today’s unions that have lead people to expect so much but get so little.

Coop is a Moron.

One of the reasons Health care costs a lot because there is little competition and hidden pricing so then they can charge whatever the heck they want.  $100 to see a doc for 5 minutes.  Greed on their part is one of the problems.

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Silent you are right.  It’s all greed on the doctors, pharmcy’s,and Walmart.  Everyone is after the big buck and doesn’t care about the one’s who are trying to make it.  And Walmart does have hidden costs connected with their healthcare, so it’s not a straight $350 deductible, it could be $15,000 before the $350 is even met.