Wal-Mart's New Health Insurance Figures Prove That Crisis Worsened in 2006

Wall Mart Health Insurance

Today, Wal-Mart falsely claimed that the number of Wal-Mart employees covered by the company health insurance plan increased in 2006. Wal-Mart's latest health care numbers directly contradict Wal-Mart's figures from last year and prove that the company's health care crisis actually worsened. In fact, both in absolute numbers and on percentage basis, the number of Wal-Mart workers covered under the company health care plan actually decreased in 2006.

Last year, at the end of Wal-Mart's health care enrollment period, Wal-Mart made public statements to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets claiming, "638,000 workers were now insured by the company." Today, Wal-Mart said at the end of this year's enrollment period it now insured only 636,391 workers. Therefore, Wal-Mart's new health care enrollment decreased, not increased, by almost 2,000 workers compared to the same time last year.

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart wrongly claimed today, and several media outlets mistakenly reported on this wrong number, that Wal-Mart's figure of 636,391 employees represents an 8% increase in enrollment. It is impossible for Wal- Mart to have increased enrollment by 8% unless Wal-Mart lied to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and only insured 589,250 employees last year, not the 638,000 it claimed.

Even on a percentage basis, Wal-Mart's figures are not accurate. This year, Wal-Mart claims it increased the percentage of workers covered under the company health insurance plan to an embarrassing 47.4%. But, at the end of last year, Wal-Mart told the Wall Street Journal that it provided company health care to 49% of its workers. Therefore, the 47.4% actually represents a decrease of 1.6%.

Based on the misleading statements made today by Wal-Mart, WakeUpWalMart.com released the following statement attributable to Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com:

"Incredibly, Wal-Mart's own health care numbers prove that the Wal-Mart health care crisis has worsened. The sad truth is that despite making $11 billion in annual profit, Wal-Mart still fails to provide company health care to over half of its employees.

Given the enormous cost American taxpayers must pay to subsidize Wal-Mart's health care crisis, we call on Wal-Mart to stop misleading the American people and our elected leaders who expect, if nothing else, that America's largest private employer will live up to it's health care responsibilities.

At a minimum, Wal-Mart should have the decency to remember how many workers they actually provide health care to and stop changing the numbers in a deliberate and desperate attempt to mislead the public and the media as the company tries to repair its faltering public image.

In the end, we hope that Wal-Mart will wake up and realize that continuing to make misleading statements about its health care crisis will not only fail to improve its faltering public image, but will only further stoke the anger of the American people and our elected leaders who expect Wal-Mart to finally change for the better."