Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Maryland or Washington?

A growing number of states are starting to tackle head-on the problem of big corporations dumping their employees onto public assistance. That pushes health care costs onto taxpayers and is unfair to business competitors that do the right thing and provide health care for their employees.

Maryland has already passed a Fair Share Health Care bill, which would require large employers to make sure their employees have health care by either spending a minimum percentage of their payroll on health care costs or paying a certain amount into a state Medicaid fund. Michigan is among the many states considering a similar solution.

In Washington state a similar bill was defeated last week, but Washington's Governor is already making plans to bring it back.

We'll be taking this on in New York soon - keep an eye on the blog for your chance to weigh in.

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