WSLC Reports Today
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FRIDAY, DEC. 1  ▪  Wal-Mart is still top user of state's health care funds -- New surveys show Wal-Mart still ranks No. 1 in Washington state for the number of employees using public health care programs, even though it is not one of the state’s largest employers. The cost to state taxpayers is pegged at $18.2 million for 2006. (Note: After 2004 figures on this subsidy were leaked last year, Wal-Mart claimed it had vastly improved its health plans since then, saying: "It's an apples and oranges comparison from Wal-Mart in 2004 to Wal-Mart today.")
▪  In today's News Tribune -- A ranking Wal-Mart could live without -- The new report is likely ammunition for union-backed legislators who hope to pressure such companies to spend more on health care benefits. They argue that Wal-Mart is essentially pushing its health costs onto taxpayers. “I hope this report will serve as a kind of catalyst,” said state Rep. Steve Conway.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Wal-Mart limps into the holidays -- Forget the critics, labor unions, activists and politicians who have tried to stir up trouble for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company's latest problems come from a far more serious quarter: consumers. Despite price cuts, November was the retailer's worst month in a decade. Analysts wonder if rapid growth is possible anymore.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006
Wal-Mart still top user of state health care funds, report says
WA taxpayers will pay $18.6 million in 2006 to subsidize world's largest corporation

The following press release was distributed Thursday by the Center for a Changing Workforce. The Center also released a fact sheet offering a more detailed analysis. (Note: After 2004 figures on this subsidy were leaked last year, Wal-Mart claimed it had vastly improved its health plans since then, saying: "It's an apples and oranges comparison from Wal-Mart in 2004 to Wal-Mart today.")

Two new state surveys show Wal-Mart still ranks No. 1 in the state 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 Center for a Changing Workforce projected the cost to state taxpayers at $18.2 million for 2006, based on state survey reports released yesterday.  

The January and June 2006 surveys by the Health Care Authority and the Department of Social and Health Services counted 3,194 Wal-Mart employees either enrolled in Medicaid or the Basic Health Plan (BHP), or with enrolled dependents. There were an additional 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 employer in the state. Boeing, Microsoft, Safeway, and Kroger each have more employees, but all four of the largest employers combined have fewer employees using public health care programs 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 itself a 'family-friendly' business, but this report reveals that it’s Washington’s taxpayers 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 Medicaid and Basic Health Plan health care subsidies at $12,100,464. Based on the new agency reports, the previous estimate was 50% too low.

Today’s new figures show that 11% of Washington Wal-Mart employees are in the adult Medicaid program. That’s more than double the figure Wal-Mart claimed existed in a recent internal memo. Another 11% of the company’s employees have children enrolled in the Medicaid kids program.

A majority of Wal-Mart’s employees who are Medicaid beneficiaries were working full-time (35+ hours per week), according to a January 2006 report based on an analysis of the 2004 numbers by the Seattle Times. At Wal-Mart’s average wage of $9.68/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 employees 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 meaningful. 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 90% increase from 2002. During the same time period, the company’s employment increased by about 30%, from 12,000 to 16,000.

In the 2006 session, the Washington State Legislature considered, but did not act on legislation (HB-2517, SB-6356), which would have require Wal-Mart and other large employers to contribute more toward the cost of employee healthcare.

The Center for a Changing Workforce is a non-profit public policy organization that provides research, education, and policy analysis on employment and benefit issues facing low-wage and nonstandard workers, including temporary, contract, and part-time work. For more information, contact the Center's Director, David West, at 206-622-0897.