Last week's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals rejecting Maryland's anti-Wal-Mart "fair share" health care law ought to put an end to these kind of flagrantly punitive regulatory efforts. As New York Times reports, labor agrees.
By forcing Wal-Mart to revamp health care plans in Maryland, the court found, the Maryland law directly violated Erisa (sic).
That decision, upholding a lower court decision in July, threatens to derail health care legislation known as fair share that is under consideration in states across the country.
“State level health care reform is still possible, but it’s not going to be the Maryland model,” said Naomi Walker, the director of state legislative programs at the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which lobbied for the Maryland law. “We have to go back to the drawing board.”
Let's hope they return from the drawing board with a greater appreciation of choice and markets.
