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Health bill takes aim at Wal-Mart

Measure introduced in Colo. is similar to Maryland law

Rachel Brand, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 9, 2006 at midnight

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A bill that would force large Colorado employers to pay 11 percent of wages toward health care costs was introduced in the legislature Wednesday.

A day earlier, a coalition of mega- retailers sued the state of Maryland over a look-alike law that passed last month.

Although naming no names, this week's House Bill 1316 is widely thought to target Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, which employs 25,380 in Colorado.

The bill would require firms with 3,500 or more workers to spend at least 11 percent of payroll on health care or hand over the difference to Medicaid, the state and federal program for the poor and disabled.

Affected Colorado companies would include Wal-Mart, King Soopers, Centura Health, Safeway, HCA- HealthOne, Exempla Health, IBM and the University of Denver. All government agencies are exempt.

A Wal-Mart spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Critics contend that Wal-Mart's health benefits force hundreds of thousands of workers and children onto Medicaid.

Medicaid's astronomical growth - with caseload increases of 59 percent in the past five years in Colorado - prompted state Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, to sponsor the bill.

"Either we talk about providing health care for everyone in this country," Solano said, "or we bring everybody to the table to talk about being responsible to the community they locate in."

Similar bills are being considered in 30 states.

Supporter AFL-CIO says such legislation evens the playing field between Wal-Mart and union shops such as King Soopers and Safeway, which are losing market share to the retail giant.

"(The law) will stop large, profitable corporations from freeloading off communities and shifting their employees' health care insurance costs onto workers, taxpayers and smaller businesses," the trade union federation said in a statement.

Maryland's law requires companies with more than 10,000 employees in the state to spend at least 8 percent of payroll on health care or contribute the difference to Medicaid. The law, as it happens, affects only Wal-Mart.

On Tuesday, the Retail Industry Leaders Association filed two federal lawsuits against Maryland. The first argued that the Fair Share Health Care Act was illegal under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The second argues that state and local governments are not allowed to mandate levels of health care coverage by private companies. Both lawsuits ask federal judges to grant injunctions to prevent enforcement of the laws.

or 303-892-5269. The Associated Press contributed to this report.