A new, statewide Zogby poll confirms widespread public support among Maryland voters for making large corporations, like Wal-Mart, live up to their health care responsibilities. The poll shows there is specific and strong support for overriding Gov. Ehrlich’s veto of Fair Share Health Care legislation:

•Overall, health care issues are extremely important to Maryland voters. Health care ranks second overall, just behind education.

•66 percent of Maryland voters agreed with the statement - “The veto should be overridden by the state legislature. Fair Share Health Care legislation is good for Maryland and should become state law.”

•60 percent of Maryland voters think it is “important” for Fair Share Health Care legislation to become law.

•74 percent of voters, when asked to look ahead to the 2006 statewide elections, believe an elected official’s decision to vote against Fair Share Health Care legislation will have either “a great deal” or “some” influence on whether they choose to support that candidate for re-election.

WAL-MART’S HEALTH CARE CRISIS

America, and now Maryland, faces a growing “Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis.” Because Wal-Mart fails to provide affordable company health care, Wal-Mart workers and their families are increasingly left uninsured or are forced onto tax-payer funded public health programs. The facts about the “Wal-Mart Health Care Crisis” are disturbing:

•Over half of Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million workers (over 600,000 Wal-Mart workers) are left uninsured by the company, significantly below the average for large employers (68%).

•In 12 of the 13 states where data is available, Wal-Mart leads all others employers with workers on public health care assistance. In Georgia, Wal-Mart has 13 times the number of worker’s children on public health care than any other employer.

•According to Wal-Mart’s own “Internal Health Care Memo,” nearly 1 out of every 2 children of Wal-Mart workers are either uninsured or on public health care assistance, at an estimated cost to Medicaid of $1.2 billion every year.

WE NEED FAIR SHARE HEALTH CARE

Wal-Mart’s own internal, secret health care memo, authored for their November 2005 board meeting, proves Wal-Mart is actually looking to make further cuts to employees’ health benefits, completely undermining and in direct contrast to the statements by their high priced lobbyists.

•Fair Share Health Care would require large employers, like Wal-Mart, to pay a minimum percentage (8%) for health care, far below what most responsible employers are already paying, but an important first step to expand health care and level the playing field.

•Maryland would lead the way nationally – just last week 30 states announced they would introduce Fair Share Health Care to fight the Wal-Mart health care crisis in their state.