IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2009

CONTACT: Meghan Scott
(202) 538-0362

WAL-MART’S HEALTH COVERAGE STILL WOEFULLY INADEQUATE

Today, Wal-Mart announced that the percentage of its employees on Wal-Mart health insurance plans rose from 50.2 percent to 51.8 percent.

“While Wal-Mart likes to brag about its new and improved health care plans, the reality is that America's largest private employer is leaving thousands of its workers without insurance and forcing thousands more to depend on state aid,” said Meghan Scott, Director of WakeUpWalMart.com. “Wal-Mart’s so-called improvements also force employees to choose between high monthly rates or pray every day they don't get sick."

Nearly half of employees decide not to purchase insurance through Wal-Mart, often because they cannot afford to. The 51.8 percent of employees on Wal-Mart plans falls far below the average for large companies (those with 1,000 or more workers), which cover 65 percent of their employees. Eighty-five percent of Costco’s employees are insured through the company.”

Wal-Mart has a long history of using state health insurance programs to subsidize the employees it does not cover. Former CEO H. Lee Scott even explained that, “in some of our states, the public program may actually be a better value- with relatively high income limits to qualify, and low premiums.”

Those who do opt to purchase Wal-Mart’s health insurance also face a harsh reality. An average full-time employee who chooses the least expensive insurance plan has to spend more than 20 percent of their income. Cynthia Murray has worked for Wal-Mart for nine years and can’t afford to spend $180 on healthcare premiums every two weeks when her average paycheck is only $489.”

“The world's largest retailer refuses to offer health care its employees can afford. Wal-Mart can throw out a bunch of numbers, but as a company that made $12 billion in profit last year Wal-Mart has the ability and responsibility to do better by it’s 1.4 million employees.”