Wal-Mart offers to help fix US health care

[cynatnite]

ROGERS, Arkansas (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., at the center of debate over corporate responsibility for health care, said on Tuesday that it wants to use its cost-cutting expertise to help make the U.S. health care system more efficient.

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, has become a lightning rod for labor unions, environmentalists, anti-sprawl groups and others who contend that the retailer pays poverty-level wages, pushes employees onto government-funded Medicaid health insurance, and devours green space for its massive stores.

Maryland recently passed legislation that requires Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care, and similar bills have been proposed in dozens of other states as they try to defray rising costs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060419/hl_nm/retail_walmart_health_dc

[mdmc]

1. sprawlmart

:mad:

[Broken_Hero]

2. Well, thats good, if they do it...n/t

[Xenotime]

3. Anything Wal-Mart does is a joke...

If they want to begin with healthcare, they can start by keeping their own parking lots safe. I have lost two friends to thugs in a WM parking lot. I am sure their families would like to see a policy.

[cassiepriam]

4. God help us, what next? A wal mart greeter doing surgery?

[Maraya1969]

9. Yea maybe they think we should lesson the requirements for becoming

a doctor. A two year course would be ok.

If they had anything good to say they should have said it already instead of acting like they know any more than cheep labor, cheep products and more cheep labor.

Oh wait, Maybe they think all the different specialties should be located at one HUGE multi-doctor setting, a few square miles in diameter and have one huge pharmacy in the middle. Then when you say you spent the day at the doctor's office it could mean doing your power walk also.

[cassiepriam]

15. Yah, don't forget the McDonald's, the convenient registers for

easy payments of co-pays. And you can get t-shirts with your docs name, or name of surgery.

And you could have a whole section of attorneys, so if the doc visit doesn't work out you can sue as you walk out the door.

So convenient.

And yes 2 yr docs just fine, don't have to pay them as much then. How hard can it be to do brain surgery after all, maybe someone from lawn and garden could do it...

[Maraya1969]

16. Lawn and Garden LOL. Maybe a fishing tackle box would come in handy too

And a shotgun in case things get slow; just to drum up some business.

[cassiepriam]

17. There you go, gotta keep the business going when things get slow :(

[ClassWarrior]

5. I'm sure they want to "fix" it...

:eyes:

NGU.

[Maraya1969]

6. Take care of their own employees and they want to show the US government

how to cut costs? If there was anything nice to say about Wal-Mart I would be happy about this but so far their own example is piss poor.

Wal-Mart can sell at such low costs because it takes the money from its employees and THEIR health care benefits.

I don't get a good feeling about this.

[DebbieCDC]

7. Here's what it's really about..

"The retailer offered up its information technology expertise to help develop a system for keeping electronic medical records as another means of reducing costs."

Reducing costs my ass. Sure let those bastards keep your medical records. They'll be nice & safe & secure. Anything hell-mart has its hands in bears keeping a close eye on.

[Maraya1969]

11. Soon we'll all have a bar code tattooed on our asses.

[kahleefornia]

8. Wal Mart solves health care costs!

Of course they know how to do this - the key is to not give anyone any health care. Then it doesn't cost a thing!!

[Initech]

10. In other words, Wal-Mart isnt going to do a damn thing.

[liberaliraqvet26]

12. no thanks

[3waygeek]

13. We'd be better off

with Costco handling health care -- they already do better than Medicare part D.

[Lefty48197]

14. Buy insurance for your employees, Walmart.

I think the Walmart employees without health insurance make up about 2% of the Americans who don't have health insurance.