Here are some others...
A 2002 internal memo from the Georgia Department of Community Health that focused on the state's Children's Health Insurance program PeachCare showed that the children of Wal-Mart employees accounted for 10,261 of the 166,000 children enrolled, about 14 times that of the second-highest employer, the supermarket chain Publix, which had 734. Wal-Mart, with 42,000 workers in the state in 2002, had about one child in the health care program for every four employees; the ratio for Publix was one child in PeachCare for every 22 employees [The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 2/27/04 (registration required)].
The state of Connecticut discovered in January 2005 that it pays an estimated $43 million annually to cover health costs for workers at the state's 25 largest employers; Wal-Mart was at the top of the list with 824 employees or employees' adult dependents on state public assistance programs. Beyond Connecticut, Wal-Mart had the most employees on Medicaid in a total of 11 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, according to examinations in those states [Employee Benefit News, 5/01/05].
A 2004 study conducted by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce looked at Wal-Mart employees' eligibility for a wide range of public assistance programs and estimated that one 200-employee Wal-Mart store may cost federal taxpayers $420,750 annually, or about $2,103 per employee. This includes $36,000 for free and reduced-price school lunches, $42,000 for Section 8 housing assistance, $125,000 for federal tax credits and deductions for low-income families, and $108,000 for federal costs relating to health care assistance.
mediamatters.org
So not only are we supposed to subsidize Walmart's renumeration policies, we are also supposed to eliminate inheritance taxes to benefit Sam's heirs. Why does this remind me of Leona Helmsley? Crap, I guess I stop shopping there. That hurts too, as a student my income is limited... |
