Guest Post by Andrew Hemingway
There are two things you never talk about at work- politics and religion. This week John McKay, the CEO of Whole Foods, broke that rule is now paying the price. On Tuesday Mr. Mckay wrote into the Wall Street Journal and editorial about Obamacare–in fact the article is entitled “The Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare”.
Mr. McKay, the founder and CEO of one of the “greenest” companies in the country, gave a perspective to the healthcare debate that has been sorely missing: that of a business owner. Mr. McKay lays out 8 things that he would like to see done in regards to healthcare and they are fantastic. In fact I was shocked to read them, as I had wrongly assumed that the owner of such a company would have to be in the bag for Obama and his agenda. Boy was I wrong!
Here are the 8 things that McKay says need to be done:
1. Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
2. Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
3. Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
4. Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
5. Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
6. Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
7. Enact Medicare reform.
8. Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
John McKay is a rare man! Here is a business owner of a publicly traded company that takes the time and risk to put his name to an article published in a national paper. A man that not only talks the talk but walks the walk, you see he provides his employees great health insurance benefits. He put a lot on the line the day he penned this article, he put his reputation on the line, and he risked public opinion turning against his business, and hurting profits. But he did what he felt was right, even though he could lose much personally and publicly.
In fact there are now several organizations out there trying to boycott Whole Foods because of McKay’s positions on this debate. I say that if there is a man out there that is willing to risk it all because it is the right thing to do, then that man deserves my business. I have to travel over 1 ½ hours to the nearest Whole Foods, but I will gladly do that to support this man. Not because we share similar views on this debate, but because he showed that he is a man of character. I support John McKay, and thank him for being an American Patriot.
If only we could find men like this to run for office.
Andrew Hemingway is a candidate for NH’s 2nd Congressional Distirct and is the chairman of the Bristol Municipal Budget Committee. Visit his website: www.andrewhemingway.com