Wal-Mart's Health Care Coup

Love ‘em or hate ‘em you have to admire not only their chutzpah but their political savvy. By backing a piece of health care reform which mandates employer-provided health insurance they managed to: a) short circuit union organizing efforts; b) get themselves a prominent seat at the negotiating table; and c) stick it to their competitors.

The unions won’t quit trying to organize Walmart (WMT) but the priority for that effort, not to mention funding, has probably slipped way down the ladder. They know how big the chits are that Walmart just got from the administration and they won’t want them cashed at their expense.

Walmart will have a big say in what the final employer mandate looks like — assuming there is one. It’s doubtful that mandate will be too far off what they already provide.

The moms and pops that try and compete with Walmart and some of the big boys as well are probably tearing their hair out. Odds are that they provide less to their employees, if they provide any health insurance at all, than Walmart. So Walmart gets a bill that doesn’t cost it an arm and a leg but probably pulls all four appendages off some of its competition.

Probably one of the saviest and most completely craven corporate sellouts in history.

Comments

[Carneades:]

I completely agree, the move was a total political calculation. It actually reminded me of the way Phillip Morris managed to slip into the negotiations concerning the recent tobacco legislation. Wal-Mart also wants to restrict the insurance mandate to coverage of Full Time employees. That would enable the Company to reduce hours across the board and classify enough employees as Part Time to offset the costs of the mandate.

Jul 02 04:13 PM

[ExOut:]

Hear hear! Same thoughts on my part when I saw this.

I hope someone in the political sphere pries into their motivations; unfortunately, this is unlikely IMHO.

Jul 03 02:48 PM

[Ted Hurlbut:]

I suspect Walmart has come out in favor because they know that whatever the impact on their business, they are better positioned to absorb it than their competitors. Walmart has always been about building share, and anything that weakens their competition in relative terms benefits them.

Jul 05 11:14 PM