How does health care costs effect Krogers ability to compete?
A. Wal-Mart asks their employees to pay over $240.00 per month for family coverage. This reduces the expense of providing health care and lowers their operating costs. Kroger currently funds 100% of your health care costs and is at a competitive disadvantage with their #1 competitor (Wal-Mart) because of this large difference in expenses. In addition, only 38% of Wal-Mart associates have insurance; while over 60% of employees covered by the Midwest fund have insurance. This only further widens the gap and makes Kroger more uncompetitive.
