What They’re Saying About The ‘Better Health Care Together’ Campaign

For Immediate Release
Friday, February 16, 2007

Washington, D.C. – One week after Wal-Mart Watch President Andy Stern, Wal-Mart C.E.O. Lee Scott and other business and labor leaders announced the “Better Health Care Together” campaign to push for universal health care coverage, the initial reviews are in. Here’s a sampling of the reaction from a wide range of health care experts, elected officials and skeptics:

  • Los Angeles Times: “‘The fact they even got to the same table to talk about this in the first place is pretty amazing,’ said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a national nonprofit organization that represents large concerns such as Exxon Mobil Corp., IBM Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co.” [Costello & Goldman, 2/8/07]
  • Harrisburg (Penn.) Patriot News: “Wow. Two intelligent people with different jobs and backgrounds – arch enemies on many fronts – got together to push a mutual goal… That’s like Roosevelt teaming with Stalin to fight Hitler. Two opposing groups put aside their own serious differences so they could fight a common enemy. I mean, Stern is the head of Wal-Mart Watch, a group that monitors the retailer more closely than Israel monitors Iran’s nuclear program.” [Barstow, 2/11/06]
  • USA Today: “‘What Scott’s reach does is give Republican moderates cover to do what they need to do, and Stern’s reach gives moderate Democrats cover to meet the Republicans halfway and solve the problem in a way both can live with,’ [Len] Nichols said.” [Appleby, 2/8/07]
  • Wall Street Journal: “We can understand Mr. Stern’s joyful presence on the stage. The Service workers chief has made it his life’s ambition to pass ‘national’ (i.e., government-run) health care, and enlisting a couple of big shot corporate executives to his side gives the effort a political boost. Mr. Stern is nothing if not a shrewd operator, and he all but laid out his business co-option strategy last year on these pages.” [Editorial, 2/9/07]
  • U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton: “I have learned from experience that we cannot achieve the goal of health care for every American if we don’t have buy-in from employers, government, and labor. Today’s announcement by America’s largest employer and some of America’s largest unions, along with organizations from across the political spectrum, is one more piece of evidence that there’s broad agreement that Americans deserve a health care system that covers everyone and lowers costs.” [Statement, 2/7/07]
  • Cox News Service: “Norman Ornstein, co-author of a book on congressional dysfunction, The Broken Branch, said that the creation of private-sector alliances could play a constructive role in getting Congress on a bipartisan track this year. ‘The signal that it sends is: ‘This is a big enough problem that people really want solutions,’ he said. Having business, labor and environmental leaders point out common ground can help show political leaders a path to successes on domestic policy. ‘All they are saying is: ‘Here are some steps we can take together,’ Ornstein said.” [Geewax, 2/14/07]
  • Christian Science Monitor: “‘Clearly, we’re going to start moving away from employer provided health insurance,’ says Richard Brown, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. ‘Employers are seriously looking for a way to get out of this.’” [Trumbull, 2/13/07]
  • Los Angeles Times: “The initiative was noteworthy both in its scope and its call for businesses, employers and government to share costs. Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a national healthcare policy organization, said the cost-sharing idea is the most surprising. ‘This is the first time a prominent business group has said that business needs to pay for a portion of any new healthcare system,’ she said. In the past, the business community played a central role in torpedoing most healthcare reforms, including President Clinton’s ill-fated 1993 plan.” [Costello & Goldman, 2/8/07]
  • Wall Street Journal: “Several experts said it is hard to gauge the partnership’s effect. ‘I’m skeptical that they at this point agree on anything other than broad general principles,’ said William Custer, an economist and professor of health administration at Georgia State University. ‘I do think it’s going to have an effect because it’s another fairly weighty voice entering the debate and pushing for something to be done.’” [Maher, 2/8/07]
  • Los Angeles Times: “‘This is yet another indication that, save for Iraq, healthcare will be near or at the top of the political agenda for 2008,’ said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a group that advocates overhauling healthcare.” [Costello & Goldman, 2/8/07]
  • Wall Street Journal: “Commenting on the new partnership, Sen. Ron Wyden, (D., Ore.), who has introduced legislation for a universal health-care plan, said, ‘Today, more employers and labor representatives are sending the message that our nation’s health-care system is broken, and if we don’t fix it, it will die under its own weight.’” [Maher, 2/8/07]
  • Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius: “‘The fact that business and labor have come together to issue a united call for change is remarkable, and it adds great momentum to the drive to reform our health care system,’ said Sebelius. ‘There is broad recognition that our current health care system is broken and widespread agreement that it will take cooperation between businesses, workers, providers, and government to fix it. Many governors are already working toward this goal – making sure that families have affordable coverage – and are hopeful this joint effort, endorsed by business and labor, will prompt federal action quickly.’” [Statement, 2/8/07]
  • Cybercast News Service: “Greg D’Angelo, research assistant with the Center for Health Policy Studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Cybercast News Service Wednesday’s event demonstrates that many financial leaders realize the health care model ‘we have now doesn’t necessarily work for the type of dynamic economy we have.’… ‘This is true for both employers and employees, particularly small businesses and people in the service sector,’ he said. ‘It isn’t really all that ironic that they’re teaming up and re-thinking the employer-based model to make it more of a system based on consumers, choice and portability.’” [Hall, 2/8/07]
  • Washington Post: “‘We’ve disagreed on many issues in the past, and I’m sure we will disagree on others going forward,’’ Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said yesterday. ‘However, resolving America’s health-care crisis is so important to this country that we’re willing to put aside our differences and work together.’” [Mui & Russakoff, 2/8/07]
  • Working Families For Wal-Mart: “The alliance is meant to put politics aside and work together for the common good for America’s working families and the future of this country’s healthcare system. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and Andrew Stern aim to change the national health care system for the better by the year 2012.” [Grill, 2/8/07]