Post by RPankn on Jun 8, 2005 9:46:05 GMT -5
June 8, 2005
BY BEN FISCHER Sun-Times Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD -- The state would start naming companies with the most workers enrolled in taxpayer-funded Medicaid programs if Gov. Blagojevich signs a measure that business leaders say would have no impact other than to generate "a list of shame" that would embarrass them.
Under a little-noticed provision inserted into a bill the General Assembly approved last week, officials would create a list of employers whose workers lack adequate private health insurance and must turn to the state for help paying their doctor bills.
Supporters say the list would help highlight which industries are more likely to offer coverage. It also would help legislators retool state law to help those industries that aren't providing health care benefits do so.
But businesses are dubious, fearing a bad rap if they show up on the list.
"These types of bills are aimed at bringing negative publicity to large companies who bring hundreds of thousands of new jobs to this country," said Nate Hurst, a spokesman for Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the retail giant that has been a lighting rod for criticism on worker-treatment issues.
Wal-Mart employs more than 43,000 people in Illinois, Hurst said, and likely would earn a prominent place on such a database just because of its sheer size.
Governor plans to sign
That could trigger a repeat of what happened in Wisconsin last month, where officials disclosed that more than 1,200 Wal-Mart employees and their dependents use that state's Medicaid program at a cost of $2.7 million. That set off a spate of negative newspaper editorials and renewed fervor from labor unions, who say that shoddy employee treatment is standard at the company.
Shaming businesses isn't what the list is meant for, said Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), but she doesn't particularly care if that's an offshoot.
"If they don't want to be embarrassed, they can do something about it," she said. "But you tell me, why is it that the taxpayers of the state of Illinois are funding the richest company in the nation?"
Cheryle Jackson, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich, said he intends to sign the law in its current form.
Across the country, at least 24 other states are considering similar proposals. Colorado's Republican Gov. Bill Owens vetoed similar legislation May 27, and Wal-Mart dispatched top executives to fight Minnesota's database plan last week.
After falling well short of the necessary votes to pass the Illinois House in April, top Democrats re-inserted the plan at Flowers' request into a broader measure meant to lure more federal Medicaid dollars into the state.
Pro-business Republicans were left with little choice but to go along.
Should the governor sign the bill, the first report would come out in October 2006 and include only businesses with more than 100 employees and at least 25 workers on the Medicaid rolls. The reports would stop after 2009 unless lawmakers extend the program.
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce derided the proposal as "a list of shame," and insisted Wal-Mart and other companies that provide jobs do a service to the state. Rob Carney, a lobbyist for the group, said the chamber will ask Blagojevich to use his amendatory veto power to cut the database provision from the bill.
'Ripping off the state'
"There's no law saying you have to give your employees insurance," Carney said. "What if every company in the state decided we're not going to have any more insurance? I'd imagine that'd create a huge burden."
Marrianne McMullen, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, said shortchanging individual workers has far-reaching public policy ramifications. "When large businesses are depending on Medicaid, they're essentially ripping off the state," she said.
Flowers said it's an injustice to the state when businesses shortchange their employees and force them to turn to the state for help.
"It appears to me there's a new system that the taxpayers are not aware of . . . where businesses are passing their responsibilities on to us." she said.
www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-medicaid08.html
BY BEN FISCHER Sun-Times Springfield Bureau
SPRINGFIELD -- The state would start naming companies with the most workers enrolled in taxpayer-funded Medicaid programs if Gov. Blagojevich signs a measure that business leaders say would have no impact other than to generate "a list of shame" that would embarrass them.
Under a little-noticed provision inserted into a bill the General Assembly approved last week, officials would create a list of employers whose workers lack adequate private health insurance and must turn to the state for help paying their doctor bills.
Supporters say the list would help highlight which industries are more likely to offer coverage. It also would help legislators retool state law to help those industries that aren't providing health care benefits do so.
But businesses are dubious, fearing a bad rap if they show up on the list.
"These types of bills are aimed at bringing negative publicity to large companies who bring hundreds of thousands of new jobs to this country," said Nate Hurst, a spokesman for Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, the retail giant that has been a lighting rod for criticism on worker-treatment issues.
Wal-Mart employs more than 43,000 people in Illinois, Hurst said, and likely would earn a prominent place on such a database just because of its sheer size.
Governor plans to sign
That could trigger a repeat of what happened in Wisconsin last month, where officials disclosed that more than 1,200 Wal-Mart employees and their dependents use that state's Medicaid program at a cost of $2.7 million. That set off a spate of negative newspaper editorials and renewed fervor from labor unions, who say that shoddy employee treatment is standard at the company.
Shaming businesses isn't what the list is meant for, said Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), but she doesn't particularly care if that's an offshoot.
"If they don't want to be embarrassed, they can do something about it," she said. "But you tell me, why is it that the taxpayers of the state of Illinois are funding the richest company in the nation?"
Cheryle Jackson, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich, said he intends to sign the law in its current form.
Across the country, at least 24 other states are considering similar proposals. Colorado's Republican Gov. Bill Owens vetoed similar legislation May 27, and Wal-Mart dispatched top executives to fight Minnesota's database plan last week.
After falling well short of the necessary votes to pass the Illinois House in April, top Democrats re-inserted the plan at Flowers' request into a broader measure meant to lure more federal Medicaid dollars into the state.
Pro-business Republicans were left with little choice but to go along.
Should the governor sign the bill, the first report would come out in October 2006 and include only businesses with more than 100 employees and at least 25 workers on the Medicaid rolls. The reports would stop after 2009 unless lawmakers extend the program.
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce derided the proposal as "a list of shame," and insisted Wal-Mart and other companies that provide jobs do a service to the state. Rob Carney, a lobbyist for the group, said the chamber will ask Blagojevich to use his amendatory veto power to cut the database provision from the bill.
'Ripping off the state'
"There's no law saying you have to give your employees insurance," Carney said. "What if every company in the state decided we're not going to have any more insurance? I'd imagine that'd create a huge burden."
Marrianne McMullen, spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, said shortchanging individual workers has far-reaching public policy ramifications. "When large businesses are depending on Medicaid, they're essentially ripping off the state," she said.
Flowers said it's an injustice to the state when businesses shortchange their employees and force them to turn to the state for help.
"It appears to me there's a new system that the taxpayers are not aware of . . . where businesses are passing their responsibilities on to us." she said.
www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-medicaid08.html