Columbus Dispatch: Wal-Mart backing of reform draws ire
CHICAGO -- The nation's love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart is taking an unexpected turn now that the "Beast from Bentonville" is endorsing a plan to require employers to provide health coverage for all workers.
The National Retail Federation directly criticized Wal-Mart last week for endorsing mandated health care. Such a plan, the retailers lobby said in a letter to members, "would be catastrophic for our industry."
The debate, then, shapes up something like this: The stridently anti-union Wal-Mart, which is not a member of the federation, has teamed with the Service Employees International Union to endorse the Obama administration's plan to require some form of employer-provided insurance. The rest of the retail industry is on the other side, arguing that they have the right to not offer health coverage to millions of people in their employ.
"Mandates would drive up costs for retailers while doing nothing to address waste, inefficiencies and lack of competition" in the health-care system, wrote Tracy Mullin, president of the retail federation.
Sounds like a scary scenario. But then, Mullin is writing about Wal-Mart, a company that has defined itself like no other for its ability to squeeze out waste and inefficiency.
Once Wal-Mart decided in 2005 -- later than it should have -- to bear a fairer share of the cost of its employees' health-care expenses, the company began attacking some of the unnecessary costs and inefficiencies that are built into the system.
Today, more than 50,000 employees participate in a Wal-Mart program in which their health records are automated, searchable and even transferable should they leave their jobs. Automation of record-keeping is a centerpiece of the Obama administration's health-care plans and is expected to deliver billions of dollars in savings.
For doctors and other health-care providers, Wal-Mart through its Sam's Club stores in April began selling a hardware and software package that automates record-keeping at doctors' offices.
It is a paradox of modern times that manila folders with hand-lettered notations still are the main method of record-keeping in thousands of doctors offices nationwide. ...
The National Retail Federation directly criticized Wal-Mart last week for endorsing mandated health care. Such a plan, the retailers lobby said in a letter to members, "would be catastrophic for our industry."
The debate, then, shapes up something like this: The stridently anti-union Wal-Mart, which is not a member of the federation, has teamed with the Service Employees International Union to endorse the Obama administration's plan to require some form of employer-provided insurance. The rest of the retail industry is on the other side, arguing that they have the right to not offer health coverage to millions of people in their employ.
"Mandates would drive up costs for retailers while doing nothing to address waste, inefficiencies and lack of competition" in the health-care system, wrote Tracy Mullin, president of the retail federation.
Sounds like a scary scenario. But then, Mullin is writing about Wal-Mart, a company that has defined itself like no other for its ability to squeeze out waste and inefficiency.
Once Wal-Mart decided in 2005 -- later than it should have -- to bear a fairer share of the cost of its employees' health-care expenses, the company began attacking some of the unnecessary costs and inefficiencies that are built into the system.
Today, more than 50,000 employees participate in a Wal-Mart program in which their health records are automated, searchable and even transferable should they leave their jobs. Automation of record-keeping is a centerpiece of the Obama administration's health-care plans and is expected to deliver billions of dollars in savings.
For doctors and other health-care providers, Wal-Mart through its Sam's Club stores in April began selling a hardware and software package that automates record-keeping at doctors' offices.
It is a paradox of modern times that manila folders with hand-lettered notations still are the main method of record-keeping in thousands of doctors offices nationwide. ...
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