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Doyle, in his State of the State address Tuesday, called for an “anti-dumping” law that would prevent companies such as Wal-Mart from purposely shifting workers to the state’s BadgerCare program.
A bill to be taken up this morning by the Assembly Labor Committee would essentially do that, forcing companies with at least 10,000 employees in Wisconsin to pay 80 percent of the premiums of health insurance for workers’ families, or face penalties.
Under Doyle’s “anti-dumping” measure, companies purposely shifting workers to state health plans could face $250,000 fines per incident.
Under AB 860, co-authored by state Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, companies that don’t pay 80 percent of health insurance premiums would have to reimburse the state for the cost of their workers enrolled in Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for the poor, and BadgerCare, the state health plan for working families with slightly-higher incomes.
The measures would primarily affect two companies, said Darcy Haber, statewide program director for Wisconsin Citizen Action, one of the main groups backing the bill: Wal-Mart, which employs 28,000 people here, and Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care, which has about 25,000 workers in the state.
According to data released last spring by the state Department of Health and Family Services, Wal-Mart’s 1,252 employees and dependents in BadgerCare cost the state $2.7 million a year. Aurora’s 321 workers and family members in the plan cost $700,000.
But the measures could drive jobs out of Wisconsin, said state Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, chairman of the Assembly Labor Committee.
Wal-Mart, which has 42 Supercenters and 35 discount stores in Wisconsin, offers health insurance to all full-time and part-time employees for as little as $23 a month, said spokesman Nate Hurst.
Aurora spent $141 million in 2004 on employee health coverage, for which 85 percent of workers qualify, said spokesman Jeff Squire.
