In an unlikely alliance, the CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and the president of the Service Employees International Union announced a campaign to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system by 2012. Other partners include AT&T; Intel; Kelly Services, Inc.; Communications Workers of America; the Center for American Progress; the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy; and the Committee for Economic Development.
The campaign founders pledged to convene a national summit by the end of May and recruit additional business, labor, government, and not-for-profit leaders to form a wide-ranging coalition that will push for “quality, affordable health insurance coverage” for all Americans. Besides universal coverage, the “Better Health Care Together” campaign maintains that the country’s healthcare system must be based on the following principles: individuals have a responsibility to maintain and protect their health; America must dramatically improve the value it receives for every healthcare dollar; and businesses, governments, and individuals all should contribute to managing and financing a new American healthcare system.
Wal-Mart currently provides health insurance for about 47% of its U.S. workers, and CEO Lee Scott was “ambivalent” at the press conference announcing the campaign about whether Wal-Mart planned to expand health coverage to its own workers, reports CNNMoney.com.
