Battle lines over health care

Uninsured workers, big firms at odds over bill

Rachel Brand, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 14, 2006 at midnight

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Hundreds of workers rallied Monday at the state Capitol demanding that legislators "level the playing field" by requiring large companies such as Wal-Mart to pay their "fair share" of health care costs.

The rally prefaced a drawn-out afternoon debate in a jam-packed basement committee room over House Bill 1316, which would force companies with 3,500 or more workers to spend 11 percent of their payroll on health care costs or give the difference to Medicaid.

Supporters argued that the state's Medicaid rolls have climbed 59 percent during the past five years and that 60 percent of the state's 750,000 uninsured are working.

Opponents said companies will flee from Colorado, and shed jobs here, if forced to comply with a "rigid" and "arbitrary" mandate.

"This will cost people their jobs and likely their health insurance," said Chuck Berry, president of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, which represents large employers but not Wal-Mart.

Affected employers include Frontier Airlines, Vail Resorts, IBM, Exempla Healthcare and, of course, Wal-Mart. Legislators await a fiscal note before voting to stymie or push along the bill.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, likened the requirement to the 40-hour workweek or minimum-wage standards.

"Many companies are doing a wonderful job," she said. "But there are a few players who would rather pass on the cost of health care to the taxpayer, and that's why Medicaid rolls are going up."

Bill 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.

In a statement on the issue, Wal-Mart says the company hired 125,000 people last year and saves the average American household more than $2,300 a year.

Nobody knows how many Wal-Mart associates and their dependents are on Medicaid or are uninsured.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest company, says three-fourths of its workers have some insurance - either their own, their spouses' or through Medicare.

And because Colorado's Medicaid program is so lean, it is unlikely able-bodied, working adults qualify for the program.

But income requirements for children are different. The number of poor children on Colorado's Medicaid rolls grew 101 percent during the past five years to more than 210,000 youngsters.

And dependent care is among the first benefit companies cut or make prohibitively expensive.

Wal-Mart says that 27 percent of its associates' children are on Medicaid or state-sponsored Child Health Plus programs.

House Bill 1316

• What it would do: Requires companies with 3,500 or more employees in Colorado to report total employees and the amount they spend on health care. Imposes a $1,000 fine for each day reports are late. Requires companies to spend 11 percent of payroll on health-care costs or hand over the difference to the state's Medicaid fund.

• Status: Awaiting a vote from the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee.

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