“I’d like to share my story about Wal-Mart and its health care to be sure that Union members continue to fight to protect the benefits earned through their collective bargaining agreement. If you do nothing and your employer implements a plan similar to what Wal-Mart offers, the health and safety of working families is at risk.
Very few of my co-workers have insurance through Wal-Mart because it is gimmick insurance. If an employee works enough hours long enough to qualify, Wal-Mart’s health insurance is extremely expensive and doesn’t cover very much at all. Immunizations? Not covered. Well-child care? Not covered. Preventative care? Guess what? Wal-Mart doesn’t cover that either. Because Wal-Mart workers pay high premiums for very little coverage, it is more cost-effective for them to rely on county-provided services instead. This means that taxpayers subsidize health benefits for Wal-Mart’s workers.
I was injured on the job October 6, 1999, while locked in my store overnight doing inventory. Currently I live with the pain and suffering of a herniated disk in my neck that happened that night. When I first got injured, I reported it right away and I knew I needed to go to the hospital but the general manager would not let me leave the store. Finally another manager called my son to pick me up and he unlocked the door so I could go to the hospital. Before I was injured, I had health care through Medicaid. Wal-Mart refused to pay my workers’ compensation benefits from my injury, and then Medicaid dropped me because the injury happened at work. Now I have no insurance coverage at all; I cannot get it through Wal-Mart or anywhere else.
Wal-Mart has ignored my bills and my pain. The actions of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club have delayed my workers’ compensation. As a result, I have accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in debt from medical bills, lost my apartment, my credit is ruined and I live in pain every day. My doctor has recommended surgery in the future to alleviate my suffering, but because Wal-Mart continues to deny my claim, I cannot afford to pay for it.
There is a health care crisis in the United States and working families must stand together to ensure that all employers don’t follow the example that is being set by Wal-Mart.”
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