Published 6 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2747
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2747

News

Largest retailer in US enters healthcare reform debate

Fred Charatan

1 Florida

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

On 1 July Walmart, the US retail chain with 1.4 million employees, sent a letter to President Barack Obama supporting a change in the law that would require employers to provide healthcare insurance to their workers.

The letter was signed not only by Mike Duke, Walmart’s chief executive, but also by Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, and John Podesta, chief executive of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

The letter began: "As health care reform enters the next phase, we came together at this point in the debate to add our combined voices to the momentum behind reform. We believe the time for comprehensive reform is now. The present system is not sustainable. The status quo is not an option.

"We applaud the bipartisan efforts in Congress to craft and pass legislation."

Later it said: "[There are] three essential elements that should be . . . [Full text of this article]


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Health care insurance key political issue in the USA
Edwin R. van Teijlingen, et al.
bmj.com, 11 Jul 2009 [Full text]
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