Massachusetts Food Chains Top List of Employers Requiring Health Subsidies

BOSTON — Wal-Mart Stores and Stop & Shop Supermarkets topped the list of employers with 50 or more employees requiring health care subsidies from the state of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts advanced health care reform in 2006 by passing “universal” health care legislation.

The state's bill for providing health care to employees and their families who work for large companies increased 24.6% to $793.7 million in the last fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, according to a report released last week by the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, topped the list with 4,796 workers receiving public health coverage, followed closely by Stop & Shop, with 4,731. Other food retailers in the Top 10 were Shaw’s Supermarkets and Demoulas Super Markets.

Overall, the number of employees and their dependents covered by state programs increased 12% from 2007 to 2008.

That jump is likely to reignite the debate about whether employers should pay more to the state for workers who are receiving subsidized care, said the Boston Globe in a report.

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