SEC Compels Firms to Include Universal Health Coverage on Shareholder Ballots

The goal of universal health care coverage is no longer just a consumer dream and a topic for politicians. Businesses are being forced to commit to it as well.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently told companies that they must allow shareholders to vote on a proposal for universal health benefits, according to a report Tuesday in the New York Times.

The S.E. C. had supported companies desire to omit proposals calling for universal health benefits in their proxy statements. But shareholders, including religious groups and labor unions that hold billions of dollars worth of stock in pension plans, 401ks and health benefit plans, have pushed hard for the proposal to be included in proxy materials.  The S.E.C., in recent months, told Boeing, General Motors, United Technologies, Wendy’s International and Xcel Energy that they cannot omit the health care proposals in their proxy materials to shareholders, the Times reported.

Health care industry experts say health care reform that includes universal health coverage would drastically cut the amount of bad debt expense hospitals and health care providers incur each year from uninsured patients. 

The shareholders’ proposal asks companies to adopt principles for comprehensive health care reform, similar to those devised by the Institute of Medicine, which contends that health care should be universal, continuous, affordable to individuals and families, and affordable and sustainable for society. According to the Times, the shareholder proposal does not require companies to provide health coverage to employees, but instead address the issue as a social policy.

General Electric and Medco Health Solutions already have adopted principles that include the goal of universal health care.  Meanwhile, several other companies, including Wal-Mart and IBM have negotiated with shareholders to find common ground. Labor unions and religious groups plan to broaden the proxy campaign next year by bringing in more pension plans, according to the Times.