This summer has been a strange one for health care in America. Back in July Walmart announced it was backing Obama’s health care plan and supported a universal single-payer care program. Just recently Whole Foods’ CEO wrote against “ObamaCare” (in the form of a national health care program) in the Wall Street Journal saying: “A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This “right” has never existed in America.” Everyone it seems is taking a side and making enemies.

Now on the Walmart front, aside from the speculation that “the mean old giant has met the baby Jesus and now loves the people of America”* it seems most likely that this is a huge business ploy.  Walmart is the largest private employer and so will have a huge part in negotiating what the employer health care mandates are and can set the bar higher for it’s competition. Also, the need for employers to supply health care to their workers will make the market a lot harder to enter. I am not a buisiness major, I picked a lot of that info up here.

And Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods whose statement has stuck in the craw of hundreds of upper-middle class yippies does have some good sugguestions, like making medical costs transparent and honest so that a positive form of “doctor shopping” can take place where a patient can know what he’s getting in for and what he is actually paying for up front. As he puts it: ”What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?”

America has the most expensive health care system in the world. The second is Norway, however Norway does not have 15% of its population uncovered by health insurance, nor does it have a privately run health insurance industry a trait we share with a large number of third world nations and only a very few developed nations. Now there have certainly been health care reforms that have gone bad, and though America is not going to close all rural hospitals and tell sick people to go to Washington DC for treatment. we certainly could stand some positive changes.

Just listen to this guys argument.