Last week at the Clinton Global Initiative, there was a panel titled "What Can Business Do?" The purpose of the panel was to look at what businesses can do to help improve our world. One of the panelists was Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott. Imagine if Mr. Scott was willing to sit on a similar type of panel to discuss how Wal-Mart could help improve the lives of millions of workers in this county alone.
I'm pretty sure if Mr. Scott sat on that type of panel, one thing he'd hear is that the biggest and most profitable company in the world should be working to provide affordable health care to their employees. Unfortunately, Mr. Scott is doing the exact opposite thing. The good folks at Wakeup Wal-Mart uncovered internal health care documents proving that Wal-Mart's health care benefits are actually getting worse even as their profits continue to skyrocket.
From the Washington Post:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is scaling back the health-care plans available to new employees, sparking fresh criticism over whether the giant retailer is providing adequate coverage to its workers.
As of Jan. 1, the company will offer new hires only two health benefits packages in which the monthly premium can be as low as $11 but the deductible can reach $6,000, according to documents provided to The Washington Post by Wake-Up Wal-Mart, a union-backed group.
The company's two other benefit plans, which have lower deductibles, will no longer be offered to new employees. However, the plans will remain available to current employees who choose to renew their coverage.
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