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Legislating health-mart: as Md. lawmakers force Wal-Mart to pay for worker health care, other retailers keep watch
When the "Wal-Mart bill" took effect here on Feb. 13, critics predicted it would mark the beginning of employer mandated health benefits around the country. Since Jan. 1, legislators have introduced employer health care bills in 18 states. Counting bills that carried over from last year, there are 26 states that are now considering employer mandates. Although two states, Washington and New Hampshire, have since dropped the proposals, most of the bills are still working their way through committees. Some states have several bills dealing with the issue, each with different employee thresholds and spending requirements. Most allow employers to pay into a state fund for the uninsured if they spend below a certain amount on health care benefits. Wal-Mart is set to announce a boost in its health care spending, which many see as a response to the oncoming freight train of new legislation. But it's unlikely that legislators will throttle back now that they've got some momentum. … Joan Vogel, a professor who specializes in labor and employment law at Vermont Law School, sees the provision as a trap door to escape ERISA oversight. "The [Maryland] law doesn't say you must provide health benefits,"she pointed out. ERISA was originally designed to cover pension plans, long before health care costs took center stage, she said. The courts could choose to extend that protection, or it could take an ideological stance on employer responsibility for health care costs. "There's an extraordinary amount of money involved here," Vogel said. "Ultimately, I think this is going all the way up to the [U.S.] Supreme Court."
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