Cure the Walmart Healthcare Crisis

On Saturday, April 29, 2005, Hoosiers will be in rallying at 8702 Keystone at the Crossing at 5:00 PM.  We will be joining 35 other cities to help Cure the Health Care Crisis at Wal-Mart. We will also be supporting Indy's Janitors in their struggle to obtain health care. 

Together, we can tell other Hoosiers the truth about Wal-Mart's negative impact on Indiana and the Country. We can make a difference in the fight for health care and insist that no Hoosier worker or their family is forced to live without health care or rely on public assistance programs, but we cannot do it without supporters like you.

At the rally, we will call on Wal-Mart to pay its fair share for health care.  We will call on Indianapolis businesses to do the same for its janitors.

We are asking that everyone who plans to attend the rally and those who cannot attend to sign this petition asking Wal-Mart to stop abusing our tax dollars and start taking responsibility for their workers.

Together, we have the power to Change Wal-Mart and Change America.

Thank you,

Central Indiana Jobs with Justice


 

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Cure the Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I believe that Wal-Mart, a company with $11 billion in profits, has the moral responsibility to pay its fair share for health care so its workers and their children no longer suffer without insurance and taxpayers no longer foot the bill.

Signed by:

Campaign Launched:
April 27, 2006


Background Information

Wal-Mart’s health care plan fails to cover over 775,000 employees1

  • Of a total U.S. workforce of 1.39 million in October 2005, 57 percent (775,000) Wal-Mart workers had no company health care.

As of 2005, Indiana Wal-Mart Stores employed 37,474 associates2

  • Using the above statistics, 21,360 of those employees have no company health care.

Wal-Mart is spending less and less on health care

  • Wal-Mart's health care spending per worker actually declined by 3.5% during the period of 2003-2004, according to Wal-Mart's latest filing with the Internal Revenue Service.  Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's profits increased to $11 billion in 2005.

Wal-Mart forces employees to rely on taxpayer-funded public assistance to cover health care costs

The estimated cost to taxpayers of the Wal-Mart “Health Care Crisis” was $1.37 billion in 2005.

  • Based on Wal-Mart’s growth projections, the Wal-Mart “Health Care Crisis” will cost taxpayers an estimated $9.1 billion over the next five years.
  • Despite Wal-Mart claiming only 5% of its workforce is on public health care assistance, based on the available data, it is estimated Wal-Mart averages 13% of its workforce on public health care assistance. The 13% figure is 3.25 times higher than the national average of 4% for all employers.

Indiana does not keep track of specific employers with employees on public assistance3

  • According to Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) medicaid spending per person is $1,400.
  • Using the previous statistics, Indiana;s medicaid spending for Hoosier Walmart employees is approximately $52,463,600 

Secret Wal-Mart memo reveals company plans to make “Wal-mart Health Care Crisis” worse

  • A 2005 internal memo from a top Wal-Mart executive revealed that 46% of the children of Wal-Mart employees are either uninsured or on taxpayer funded public health care programs.
  • “Our critics are correct in some of their observations. Specifically, our coverage is expensive for low income families, and Wal-Mart has a significant percentage of associates and their children on public assistance.” – Susan Chambers, Executive Vice President for Benefits, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Wal-Mart’s health insurance falls far short of the industry average
  • On average, large firms (200 or more workers) cover approximately 68% of their employees. If Wal-Mart were to reach the average coverage rate, Wal-Mart should be covering an additional 260,000 plus employees.
  1. WakeUpWalMart.com
  2. Walmartfacts.com 
  3. in.gov/fssa