Wal-Mart Insurance

A bill before the state Legislature is questioning whether Wal-Mart, West Virginia's largest private employer, is driving up health care costs.

The West Virginia Fair Share Health Care Act would require any employer with ten-thousand or more workers to spend eight percent of its wages on health care.

Those who don't must pay the difference to the state's Medicaid insurance program for the poor.

The bill doesn't specifically name the retail giant, but Wal-Mart alone appears to fall under the bill's provisions with more than 12,000 employees statewide.

Wal-Mart says three-fourths of its employees nationwide have some sort of health insurance, but bill supporters say the retailer leaves workers and their families uninsured or on government-funded health care.

Maryland enacted similar legislation last week, overriding a veto by the governor there. Versions of the bill are expected in 30 states this year.