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Did Health care Law Force Wal-Mart to Cut

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Transcript: BY ADNAN S. KHAN Wal-Mart is famous for cutting prices, but now it’s going to be infamous for cutting health care benefits. Wal-Mart will be dropping coverage for future part time workers and raising premiums on others. According to Bloomberg, the company is trying break a streak of nine straight quarters of decreases in revenue. Bloomberg says, like many retailers Wal-Mart has started a campaign of cost cutting, but it might be trimming in the wrong direction. “…the company’s cuts on health care represent a reversal from only a few years ago when Wal-Mart, under pressure from union-backed groups, announced that it would provide health care coverage to part-time workers, including those who work less than 24 hours a week, after one year on the job.” The nation’s largest private employer says the cuts are a result of rising health care costs. Wal-Mart is among the few companies which provide health insurance to part timers. But ABC reports the package was barely affordable even for full-time staff. “I can’t afford the health insurance that they offer. Even though I’m full time, I make nine dollars and eighty cents and I am a department manager.” Wal-Mart says its decision has nothing to do with the healthcare reform law. Even if the company is trying to distant itself from the debate, The Washington Post reports it will not be able to escape it. “Wal-Mart’s definition of a ‘part-time employee,’ … ranges between 24 and 33 hours-per-week. The health reform

Minnesota Republican legislative leaders put forth an health insurance proposal that counts on the 2010 federal health care law being overturned, while DFLers offer one that they say meets the federal guidelines. States have until January 1, 2014 to develop health care exchanges that allow consumers to compare and purchase health insurance polices. The federal government will step in and create a health care exchange if states don’t do it by then. The Republican plan put forth by Senator David Hann (R-Eden Prairie) and Representative Steve Gottwalt (R-St. Cloud) allows people to open personal health premium accounts that would allow people to pool money from several sources, including employers, other family members and even charitable organizations to buy health insurance. The DFL plan offered by Senator Jeff Hayden (DFL-Minneapolis) and Representative Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) would create a new website with comparison of private and public health care options and negotiate on behalf of consumers and small businesses for more affordable coverage options. Senator Hayden hopes that Republicans will give the DFL bill more than an “informational hearing” so there can be a full debate on the ideas both parties are offering.
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