Wal-Mart Reiterates Support for Employer Mandate

By Ylan Q. Mui

Wal-Mart caused a stir this summer when it broke with the business community and joined the Service Employees International Union, a longtime critic, in supporting the notion that all employers, or at least those of a certain size, be required to provide health benefits to their employees. On Wednesday afternoon, one of the company's top executives once again sat side by side with SEIU President Andy Stern at a forum on options for health-care reform that featured two former Senate majority leaders, Republican Bob Dole and Democrat Tom Daschle.

The world's largest retailer reiterated its support for the employer mandate, a measure that has lately been overshadowed by debate over whether to create a government-run insurance plan known as the public option. Leslie Dach, executive vice president of government relations, deflected questions about the retailer's stance on the public option. But he said that exemptions to the employer mandate could be made for small businesses, though all companies should be stepping up to the plate.

"We believe every employer should play a role," he said.

The retail industry and many business groups remain staunchly opposed to the idea. Neil Trautwein, a vice president at the National Retail Federation, a trade group, said the measure was an "unnecessary step" and could be harmful to companies still grappling with the recession.

Wal-Mart has been angling to seize high ground in its long-running debate with labor groups critical of the health-care benefits the company provides to its workers. Two years ago, Wal-Mart partnered with SEIU and several other groups to form the Better Health Care Together coalition, which supports universal health care. That coalition sponsored Wednesday's forum along with the Bipartisan Policy Center, which was founded by Dole and Daschle and two other former senators, Republican Howard Baker and Democrat George J. Mitchell.