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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2006)
Wal-Mart still top user of state health care funds Washington taxpayers will pay $18.6 million in 2006 to subsidize world’s largest corporation Hoping Your Holidays Are Filled With Happiness ATPA Administrators of Employee Benefit Plans 1305 SW 12th Ave. Portland, Oregon 97201 (503) 274-1600 Peter Herrling Tom Weston Pati Piro-Bosley OLYMPIA, Wash. — Two new state surveys show Wal-Mart still ranks No. 1 in Washington for the number of employees using public health care programs, even though it is not one of the state’s largest employers. An analysis of the report by Seattle’s non-profit Center for a Changing Workforce projected the cost to state taxpayers at $18.2 million for 2006, based on state survey reports released earlier this month. The January and June 2006 surveys by the Health Care Authority and the Department of Social and Health Ser- vices counted 3,194 Wal-Mart employ- ees either enrolled in Medicaid or the Basic Health Plan (BHP), or with en- rolled dependents. There were an addi- tional 2,943 dependents enrolled. The agencies placed the total cost to state taxpayers at more than $1.5 million per month, based on 2006 budget figures. While Wal-Mart is once again the largest beneficiary from state health care programs, it is not the largest em- ployer in the state. Boeing, Microsoft, Safeway and Kroger each have more employees, but all four of the largest employers combined have fewer em- ployees using public health care pro- grams than Wal-Mart. The cost of Wal-Mart’s state health care subsidies for 2006 exceeds: • The combined cost of health care subsidies to all of its major discount store competitors: Home Depot, Costco, Sears, K-Mart and Target. • The combined cost of health care subsidies to all of its major grocery store competitors: Safeway, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, QFC and Haggens. “Wal-Mart’s ads claim ‘our people make the difference’,” said David West, director of the Center for a Changing Workforce. “And the company calls it- self a ‘family-friendly’business, but this report reveals that it’s Washington’s tax- payers who really make the difference when it comes to taking care of Wal- Mart employees and their families.” In January 2006, the Washington State Senate Committee staff estimated the cost of Wal-Mart’s combined Med- icaid and Basic Health Plan health care subsidies at $12,100,464. Based on the new agency reports, the previous esti- mate was 50 percent too low. The new figures show that 11 per- cent of Washington Wal-Mart employ- ees are in the adult Medicaid program. That’s more than double the figure Wal-Mart claimed existed in a recent internal memo. Another 11 percent of the company’s employees have chil- dren enrolled in the Medicaid kids pro- gram. A majority of Wal-Mart’s employ- ees who are Medicaid beneficiaries were working full-time (35+ hours per week), according to a January 2006 re- port based on an analysis of the 2004 numbers by the Seattle Times. At Wal- Mart’s average wage of $9.68 an hour, full-time employees can qualify for Medicaid in Washington. Workers at the other companies on the list were primarily part-time workers. The number of Wal-Mart employ- ees on Medicaid and the BHP in 2004 were slightly higher — 3,636 on both Medicaid and BHP, but because the agencies used a different method to count employees and dependents this year, comparisons to 2004 aren’t mean- ingful. The 2006 numbers are a large jump from 2002, when a state survey found 794 Wal-Mart employees as Medicaid and BHP clients. This year, the comparable number is 1,512 direct clients (not counting dependents), a 9 percent increase from 2002. During the same time period, the company’s employment increased by about 30 percent, from 12,000 to 16,000. In the 2006 session, the Washing- ton State Legislature considered, but did not act on legislation which would have required Wal-Mart and other large employers to contribute more toward the cost of employee health care. W armest wishes this Holiday Season! President: Earl B. Kirkland Vice-President: Gary D. Kirkland Vice-President: Martell F. Blake Sec.-Treasurer: Clair C. Anderson Westmoreland's Union Manor 6404 SE 23rd Ave Portland 97202 503•233•5671 Marshall Union Manor 2020 NW Northrup St Portland 97209 503•225•0677 Kirkland Union Manors 3530 SE 84th Ave Portland 97266 503•777•8101 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ Edward Barnes Russell Wagner Larry Kirkland Swan Nelson William McNicholas Gary Rhodehouse Kirkland Union Plaza 1414 Kauffman Ave Vancouver 98660 360•694•4314 Visit Our Web Site At: www.theunionmanors.org "Retirement Living at its Best" PAGE 4 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS DECEMBER 15, 2006
