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    Wednesday, July 1, 2009

    Obamacare: Watch Large Corporations Jump On

    Wal-mart is signing on to Obamacare.

    This should really come as no surprise, as there are lots and lots of good reasons for Wal-mart, and other large corporations to sign on to a government run health care system.

    The shifting of health care costs from employers to government (read: taxpayers, i.e. YOU) is a natural boon for large employers. It makes even greater sense to large employers with massive unionized workforces, or for those threatened by unionization.

    For largely union shops, this essentially levels the playing field for these companies against upstarts. For established companies, health care costs are one of their largest costs of employment, and the rate of increase in health care costs throw much uncertainty into these company's planning processes. So, they see a government run system as a way to make these costs the same for everyone, and to take them off their hands and shift them to ours. They also see them as a way to shelter them from competitors, especially non-union competitors, who have lower costs structures.

    For Wal-mart, some certainty has to be in order, and, I expect this is an attempt to buy protection from unionization themselves. If Wal-mart can say, "Why do our employees need a union when there is a government run health care system for them to participate in?"

    The groups I can't understand why they are behind Obamacare are unions. Of course, I fully expect the health care benefits that are collectively bargained for to be exempted from any government run plan. Unions will not sit by and stand for employers telling their rank and file to join the government run system, when they have pretty generous, bargained-for benefits.

    Anyway, my point is - any health care plan is going to be shaped more by Democratic party politics than actual health care needs.

    End...

    1 comment:

    mdeals said...

    Shifting of health care cost from employer to government and is a natural boon for large employers.