Target joins coalition behind employer healthcare mandate

When we first read that Wal-Mart was throwing its weight behind adding mandatory medical insurance requirements to health reform, we we were skeptical about its motives. After all, Wal-Mart is so huge a company as to be in a category of its own where its interests were concerned. But throw two other large employers--temporary worker agency Kelly Services and retailer Target--and it begins to look like mandated employer-based insurance may have legs.

The entry of Target and and Kelly Services on the side of the employer mandate has infuriated the retail industry's key trade group, the National Retail Federation, as well as many members. Leaders with supermarket chain Wegman's, for example, are against the mandate, saying that it would be too costly for companies, and would cost employees their jobs.

The two companies, however, note that they're not throwing their unqualified weight behind the mandate. Leaders say that their support will only become final if the right conditions are put into place, such as rules that will control the costs of health plan coverage.

To learn more about this issue:
- read this Kaiser Health News piece

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