Wal-Mart And New Jersey: Not Perfect Together

by: Brian07

Mon Feb 27, 2006 at 01:22:18 PM EST

State Sen. Joe Vitale fought for years to expand FamilyCare, New Jersey's health-insurance program for families just above the poverty line.

"FamilyCare was never meant to be a dumping ground for the country's most successful businesses," said Vitale, the Senate Health Committee chairman. "Taxpayers shouldn't be picking up their bills."

The bill, sponsored by Vitale and Senate Labor Committee Chairman Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), requires businesses with more than 1,000 employees to provide benefits worth $4.17 an hour - or pay that amount, per worker, into a state fund that will reimburse the nearly $400 million that the state spends on FamilyCare and other health-insurance programs each year.

New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank, conducted an unofficial study of FamilyCare recipients last fall, finding that Wal-Mart employees and their children led the state's insurance rolls. After Wal-Mart's 589 in FamilyCare, Home Depot had 335, Pathmark grocery stores had 329, and Target had 302. ShopRite, Macy's, Kmart, McDonald's and CVS weren't far behind.

Learn more about the Wal-Mart Tax:

http://walmartwatch.com/home/pages/healthcare

Brian Kline

http://walmartwatch.com/