Report Shows Large Firms Relying on State Health Plan for Poor
The Associated Press
Thursday 03 March 2005
Hartford, Conn. - Retail giant Wal-Mart, Stop & Shop supermarkets and Dunkin' Donuts top the list of Connecticut employers whose workers use the state's health insurance program for poor children and some parents, according to a new report.
Those three companies employ more than 2,600 adults who are parents or caretakers of children on the state's HUSKY A program. Most of those adults are also receiving state health coverage, the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research determined.
The news comes as state legislators consider whether to continue providing coverage for the thousands of parents and caregivers of children on the HUSKY program. The coverage costs taxpayers $54 million to $72 million annually.
At least one top Democratic lawmaker suggested Thursday that big employers such as Wal-Mart should pick up more of that tab. House Majority Leader Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, said large and successful corporations should provide health insurance coverage to more of their workers, or possibly pay a special tax to the state.
"I was stunned to see that we are subsidizing the health care of some of the richest companies in the United States of America," he said. "These are companies who can afford health care for their employees."
Donovan and the Citizens for Economic Opportunity, a coalition of corporate responsibility advocates, plan to announce Monday that the top five firms who employ users of Connecticut's HUSKY program are costing the state approximately $20 million annually.
After Wal-Mart and Stop & Shop, the top five include Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's and the Laidlaw bus company, according to the OLR report.
Dan Fogleman, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said his company employs more than 9,000 people in Connecticut at 34 stores. The average wage for a full-time, hourly employee is $10.89 an hour. Wal-Mart this year insured more than 568,000 full-time and part-time associates companywide in addition to insuring family members, he said.
Wal-Mart works hard to keep insurance premiums low for employees, Fogleman said. A recent survey conducted by Wal-Mart showed that it provides health care coverage at about the same rate as other retailers, he said.
The survey also shows that children of Wal-Mart employees use public assistance health care programs at similar rates as workers at other retailers and at rates similar to the U.S. population as a whole, Fogleman said.
"We do not design our plans to be supplemented by public assistance, nor do we encourage our associates to apply for these plans," he said.
Rob Keane, media relations manager for Stop & Shop, said the supermarket chain has not yet seen OLR's report. However, he said the firm spends nearly $300 million annually on medical, dental, prescription and vision coverage for its work force.
"Unlike many employers, we provide coverage to our part-time associates after an extended waiting period," he said. "Many of our part-timers are high school or college students and (for those) we are a secondary employer."
As of Dec. 1, 2004, 305,689 people were enrolled in the HUSKY A program. Of those people, 91,112 were adults, 19 years old and older. The HUSKY B program, which covers children in families with slightly higher incomes, includes 15,254 enrollees up to 19 years old.
That same month, 824 adult Wal-Mart employees were receiving coverage. OFA did not determine how many children of those adults were also receiving coverage. Another 204 employees signed up their children for HUSKY A, but did not take coverage for themselves.
At Stop & Shop, 741 adults received coverage while 175 adults only signed up their children. At Dunkin' Donuts, 530 adults received coverage while 133 only signed up their children, according to the report.
Dunkin' Brands Inc. is questioning the OLR report, saying only 15 of its employees live in Connecticut. There are more than 50 independent franchises in the state that operate more than 370 shops in Connecticut. Each shop has an average 25 to 30 employees. Those employees work for the franchise, not Dunkin' Brands, the company said.
Andrew Mastrangelo, the Dunkin' Brands communications manager, said the franchises in New England are working on a plan to offer an affordable health care plan for their employees. For an adult to qualify for HUSKY A, he or she must earn at or below the federal poverty level. However, there are approximately 13,000 parents with slightly higher incomes who've been grandfathered until April 1. A stopgap bill passed the House this week and awaits action in the Senate to extend the coverage until July 1.
Legislators are debating whether to continue the coverage beyond that date, but Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Thursday that she questions where the money will come from for the program. Rell said she is uncertain if she'll sign the stopgap bill because it could open the state up to lawsuits.
For a child to qualify for HUSKY A, the parents can earn up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Children with families earning more than 185 percent can qualify for HUSKY B.
A family of four is considered to be impoverished if the household earns $19,350 a year or less.
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