Now Playing at Reason.tv: Whole Foods and Health Care
In August, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey argued in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that the solution to America's health care crisis was to be found in "less government control and more individual empowerment." His own company's unique health care plan, Mackey wrote, covers 90 percent of employees, costs less than health insurance plans, and provides a "very high degree of worker satisfaction." But for the sin of not supporting a government take over of health care, labor unions and left-wing activists called for a boycott of Whole Foods, claiming that Mackey's solutions were unworkable and his employees were unhappy.
Reason.tv talked to protesters, Mackey, and employees about "the Whole Foods alternative to ObamaCare."
Produced by Michael C. Moynihan and Dan Hayes. Edited by Dan Hayes. Approximately 5 minutes. (Full disclosure: Mackey has contributed to Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes this website.)
For podcast and downloadable versions of this video, click here.
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The little racism girl looks like she’d be fun to bend in half for a few hours and then never call again.
of course, the colorado boy video is also up there
hier
(not sure if this is true. am sorta skeptical)
i saw the facebook group calling to boycott whole foods after the wall street journal article and was in disbelief. I am embarrassed of my generation.
This is also the generation that propelled the likes of Ron Paul into the heart of mainstream political debate. We’re a very complicated bunch of twenty-somethings.
Newsflash: A generation of people is not a monolithic bloc. Details as they become available.
Hey Solana, is your first name Mike by any chance? Nice to see you here!
And just think how many morons joined without even reading what he had to say. I don’t know what generation you claim, probably younger than mine, but believe me it’s not limited to yours.
Mackey gets to the heart of the health care problem. Whether it’s the current system, medicare, a public option or an uninsured visit to the E-room, all of them have one main problem in common. The consumer is unable to choose the best value. They can’t shop for prices relative to value/services received. Without consumerism, health care costs will never be driven down. Mackey has inserted consumerism into his employees’ health care options. His employees get to chose how their “own” dollars are spent when determining their own health outcomes. What has the result been? Mackey has seen a significant savings in health care costs compared to employers that use traditional approaches.
Colon Bowell? Really?
It is almost entertaining to witness folks out protesting who can’t say exactly what it is that they are protesting. I am sure that they did not read the article that Mr. Mackey wrote for the Journal. I am also sure that “unionized grocery workers” that the one protestor spoke of do not have health care benefits as good as the Whole Foods employees.
Why won’t the employees take me seriously? Why? Why? WHY??
VM – it’s true. I’ve seen the video.
yowza. cnn says the balloon has landed sans kid. I wonder if Highnumber ate the kid underway…
I hope the kid is okay. Maybe he fell out before it got too high up.
That people would lose it over an op-ed piece with some very well discussed, rather moderate proposals illustrates how intellectually bankrupt the American “labor movement” is.
I’ve confronted liberal friends who wanted me to help them boycott Whole Foods and I asked if they’d read the article [no]. I then asked them if they knew that Whole Foods employees had superior health benefits to most in the same income bracket [no]. I proceeded to tell them that I supported Mackey’s general points and that I would take up their lack of purchases by switching from Trader Joe’s to Whole Foods until they read the fucking op/ed.
I haven’t heard all that much since.
The people boycotting Whole Foods are very clear why they are boycotting. View their poll at wholeboycott.com And also read the rebuttal to John Mackey’s oped – posted just below the poll – by Dr. Joel Harrison, PhD, MPH
It goes over point by point and provides facts and references to prove why Mackey is WRONG and why you can’t apply market principles to healthcare.
I call troll
You can apply free market rules to anything, because its rational.
Statism is idealism, and any healthcare ‘reform’ that implements statism (whether the socialist or the fascist variety) will only end in tears.
The people boycotting Whole Foods are very clear why they are boycotting. View their poll at wholeboycott.com And also read the rebuttal to John Mackey’s oped – posted just below the poll – by Dr. Joel Harrison, PhD, MPH
It goes over point by point and provides facts and references to prove why Mackey is WRONG and why you can’t apply market principles to healthcare.
Market principles were applied…and the result was employees satisfied with their health care.
Word.
729zoom, You are wrong. Free market principles can work in health care. I will provide you two examples where free market principles have worked in health care and ask for you to refute why those examples aren’t valid. Both contact lenses and laser eye surgery are both health care related. Consumers have been able to spend their own money choosing what type of laser-eye surgery is best for them, and which provider will give them the best outcome for dollars spent. We’ve witnessed the technology improve immeasurably over the last 15 years while prices have dropped significantly. The same can be said for the contact lens market. I’ve given you one example of a health care service, and one example of a health care product that have seen a positive impact for consumers over the years as a result of free market principles. Now please tell me how my example is not a direct repudiation of your assertion that “you can’t apply market principles to health care.”
sing it with me now, Freedom! Freedom!
What you don’t understand is that no one applies free market principles. They apply themselves. The principles of the market are immutable. They do not bend to the will of people or governments.
Dr. Joel Harrison, PhD, MPH
Holy shit, that dude must be important. He’s a doctor! And a PhD! And an MPH! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!
What the hell is that? Masters of Patrick-Harris? You can get a degree in NPH-ology?
MPH = Masters of Public Health. Having a PhD and a MPH is not exactly unique.
MPH = Masters of Public Health. Having a PhD and a MPH is not exactly unique.
Not quite sure why that double posted.
Best. degree. ever. The only question would be whether to concentrate on Doogieology or Dr. Horrible Studies.
Not a doctor
Food is far more important to human health than healthcare will ever be. Does that mean you can’t apply market principles to food, either?
I wonder how many of the protesters/boycotters actually read the entire op-ed. I bet zero, or pretty darn close to zero.
Is there any way to know how effective these yahoos have been?
whole foods stock has been increasing quite a bit so probably not very effective.
729zoom is so right, they had to say it twice! Thanks for your input, dude. Maybe Warty will bend you in half for a few hours.
No way, Epi. I’m leaving this one for Steve Smith.
I was boycotting whole foods before it was cool. But only because it was full of hipsters. Now that they seem to have their pest problem under control, I might have to stop in and see what kind of non crunchy-granola crap they sell.
The Buffalo Burgers at 6.99/lb are the market.
But a lot of the “organic” and GMO stuff makes me roll my eyes.
I mean I can really see organic when it’s a small scale market gardener and your getting it fresh picked that day.
But no one’s ever going to convince me that organic is remotely relevant in a frozen pizza or some other processed, canned or vacuum sealed product that was shipped from California a month ago.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the homeopathics.
I have buffalo every once in a while. Not bad, but it has the “George Foreman Grill” taste. I guess I prefer some fat flavor.
Pretty much every sort of food. And their deli section is as good as it gets.
That union thug sounded dumber than a load of bricks
hey man, you got a lot of cranium accessories
The other problem with Whole Foods is that a lot of the products look like they were made Grandma-style, with the ingredients not properly blended.
I like it how 100% of everything the union thugs and protesters said was disproved.
If only I had a Whole Food somewhere near me. Not only would I shop there out of my spite for the protestors and support for Mackey, but I would pursue the option of employment there. Sounds like an overall great place even if it is full of soccer moms and suburbanites.
Headtater you fool! Soccer moms are awesome! Especially desperate ones!
In a not-unexpected turn, Naga emerges from the shadows to defend the virtues of suburban MILFs.
I’m like superman. I know when I’m needed.
Mackey is confused. His company’s health plan is cheap crap. However, it is better than the alternative most of his workers have – nothing. Hence, their “satisfaction” with an insurance plan that is vastly inferior to what most Americans have and virtually every citizen of any other advanced nation on earth has.
Nor do I credit Mackey with providing these workers with insurance. It is the wealthy soccer-mom/suburbanite culture that makes it possible to insure the low-skilled workers that ultimately serve them. Mackey just managed to get hold of a niche that some other business owner would have occupied in his absence.
You’re a clueless hack. As bad as that union thug in the video
Colon Bowell|10.15.09 @ 3:29PM|#
Mackey gets to the heart of the health care problem. Whether it’s the current system, medicare, a public option or an uninsured visit to the E-room, all of them have one main problem in common. The consumer is unable to choose the best value. They can’t shop for prices relative to value/services received
Unless you believe consumers are all Dr. Spocks who majored in accounting, no one can figure out it out. To honestly do such a calculation, you would need to understand EVERYTHING in their policy, understand all the paperwork and hassels they will put you through, understand your odds of every medical condition known to man, and understand how all of these will evolve over time. Needless to say, no one does.
“Free markets” and competition for ice cream shops works because consumers can try many flavors many times and learn from experience. You can’t do trial runs with a few dozen insurance companies and see which one is the best. Instead, consumers just take shots in the dark, and have no idea whether the other company would have treated them better.
You are correct. The average consumer has no idea how to shop for insurance. But if the consumer had to shop for an MRI with their own money, they would know that $350 is less expensive than $2000…and the image is the same.
If only consumers were able to talk to each other about their experiences with insurance companies. Curse you, Great Mouth-Stapling of ’09!!!
And, pray tell, how am I supposed to talk to enough people from every insurance company to have any valid statistics whatsoever?
Or should I do what most people do, which is trust whatever their dad, cousin Bob, or brother’s uncle-in-law’s college buddy says?
PS:) Don’t say “the internet”, whose “reviews” are almost entirely composed of random whining and complaints. According to the internet, just about every product and service on earth is god-awful.
Here is a simple homework assignment: Pick any two major insurers in your state, and make a convincing argument as to why I should pick one over the other. Good luck.
I’ll let someone meaner than me handle this. Good night and shut the fuck up.
Shorter Chad: I’m asking you a question, but please don’t answer because I am an asshole who wasn’t asking the question seriously.
http://learningsofanamatuerinv…..bel/Health Insurance
also many other comaprison sites
I am confused. Are you trying to make my point?
I’d rather trust my relative’s old college buddy than some random website that can’t even be bothered to type out “you”.
Chad has done it again! Just when you thought he couldn’t be more of an idiot, he proves us wrong!
Here is a simple homework assignment: Pick any two major insurers in your state, and make a convincing argument as to why I should pick one over the other. Good luck.
Here is a simple question for you, retard. WHY are they the same? The market or government regulation?
Why are they the same? Because they all use the same actuarial tables, all use the same MBA-style management techniques, and all use the same software from the same vendors. They also all suffer from the same market failures and all have the same perverse incentives, which is why they are all broken.
All restaurants are Taco Bell.
If no one can entirely understand the vagaries health care, how is an unfree market in health care a better approach? If there is no clearly objective “right” answer, how can limiting people’s choices possibly be better?
Simple. One size fits all works better than what we have now…every other advanced nation on earth has proven this repeatedly for decades.
Medicare for all. It really is that simple.
No, it does not. The simplicity may put your mind at ease as it relieves you of the terrible burden of responsibility and thinking, but putting everyone’s eggs in one basket is an idiotic thing to do when there is there is no clear objective answer.
Worshipping government as God is a religion for people who want to retard their mental growth and remian children in adult bodies.
Again. All restaurants are Taco Bell.
Wait, I forgot. Shut the fuck up, Chad.
Nor do I credit Mackey with providing these workers with insurance. It is the wealthy soccer-mom/suburbanite culture that makes it possible to insure the low-skilled workers that ultimately serve them. Mackey just managed to get hold of a niche that some other business owner would have occupied in his absence.
Yeah, fuck those kulaks. Shut the fuck up some more, Chad.
How can any sane person who makes money honestly NOT like capitalism? And seriously, a lot of people preach tolerance, but they can’t be tolerant of a CEO’s views, even though they probably LOVE Whole Foods?
New equation: Liberals = hypocrites = douchebags = -(conservatives)
Obviously, few liberals believe they make their money honestly.
I think Chad is leaving an “o” out of his name.
O’Chad? Why do you hate the Irish, Baked?
I think Chad is leaving an “o” out of his name.
Let me guess. He was the undercover cop posing as a hooker on South Park last night?
Well he’s definitely not cool enough to pull off adding an O to the end of his name.
The non-retarded people (although as of late the market participants are acting a little retarded) have spoken.
Now the sign waving morons can STFU and get out of my way as I go to pay a shit ton for some overpriced disgusting ethnic food my wife thinks is great.
Grrr linky no work. http://finance.yahoo.com/echar…..=undefined
Gee, the union goon is just pulling stuff out of his nether regions in order to discredit Mackey. Slander and libel is one of the left’s favorite weapons agaonst people they disapprove of.
Good video, thanks.
Clearly, if consumers got to choose from multiple insurers rather than just getting what is offered at work they would never flock to plans they can actually understand. Of course if we had actual insurance that covered catastrophic events rather than the “oil changes” of the human body the contracts would be much less complex.
For a final point, Chad seems to think that people are too dumb to buy insurance on their own; but apparently smart enough to vote for the folks who on top of having the power to write laws and go to war will be the people supposedly choosing the best way to provide health care for them. If they can’t understand the plan, how can they evaluate the qualifications of those who want to run the plan? It doesn’t make sense, but for the advocates of state control that doesn’t matter because somehow we will always find the right people to be in charge.
You know what else is very complex, the tax code; so even if insurance remains too complex for people markets will offer solutions like professional tax preparers and such to help people deal with it.
I can’t believe you are advocating a one size fits all system, it is completely obvious that we have an incredibly diverse population with different needs, desires, and tolerance for risk; which lends me to believe you are likely just trolling and not interested in having a serious discussion. Go play some online shooter or something if your bored.
“One size fits all” is definitely not a good idea for a health care system. Everyone is different in body and mind and a treatment that might work great for one person might not work the same (or at all) on someone else. Neither will any one medication or treatment work exactly the same way every time. The priority in health services should rest with individual dignity and choice.
Marshall Gill posted: Here is a simple homework assignment: Pick any two major insurers in your state, and make a convincing argument as to why I should pick one over the other. Good luck. We can change that to: Pick any two senators or congressman to vote for republican or democrat in your state/district, and make a convicing agrument as to why I should pick one over the other. Good luck. They are one in the same.
The irony is that the Swiss universal coverage has that kind of plan built into law.
The difference of course is that is that it isn’t related to the employer, which is one of the main absurdities of our current system.
Swiss Universal Health Care Coverage As Model For The US?
http://rectonoverso.wordpress……or-the-us/
The Swiss model is probably the least attractive (and certainly the most expensive) of the systems you listed. But all five are far better than we have have got.
Libertarians need to grasp that they will never ever have their fantasy free market system, so it is irrelevant whether it would work or not. Within the bounds of political reality, a single-payer system works better than the hybrid monstrosity we have now.
Authoritarians need to grasp that they will never have their fantasy wise-n-trustworthy-government system, so it is irrelevant whether it would work or not. Within the bounds of political reality, a free-market system works better than the government-corrupted monstrosity we have now.
What you want won’t happen, so stop wanting what you want, you fascist libertoid racists.
Colan and the rest don’t understand the difference between a market commodity (where the profit motive works) and a non-profit service or good (like the fire department, roads, schools, libraries, etc.)
If the fire dept worked with a profit incentive (and last I checked fire fighters were paid and have good benefits) there would be quite a few homes that would burn down because the incentive to profit would trump all and the only way to increase profits is by delaying, reducing or denying. Gee, I’m sorry Mr. Schmitt but your fire policy only authorizes 1 truck.
Cars and toasters are commodities. The more they supply, the more they profit. Health insurance works the opposite. The less they provide, the more they profit.
Even F.A. Hayek, considered the founder of free market economics, wrote in his seminal work, “The Road to Serfdom,” “Nor is there any reason why the state should not assist the individuals in providing for those common hazards of life against which, because of their uncertainty, few individuals can make adequate provision. Where, as in the case of sickness and accident, neither the desire to avoid such calamities nor the efforts to overcome their consequences are as a rule weakened by the provision of assistance?where, in short, we deal with genuinely insurable risks?THE CASE FOR THE STATE’S HELPING TO ORGANIZE A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL INSURANCE IS VERY STRONG.”
Hayek was about as rabid anti-government as one can find; yet he understood the difference between consumer and public goods. Single-payer is the “comprehensive system of social insurance” that he refers to for sickness and accident.
Public vs. Competitive Market Goods:
Any standard economics textbook discusses public goods and externalities. A public good is something that either can’t be obtained by individual effort or can be provided more efficiently by the organized community. Obviously, police and fire protection come to mind as well as schools and public health. Externalities refer to costs that individuals do not include in their calculations. One externality caused by our health care system is putting our companies at a disadvantage internationally. For instance, an auto manufactured in Detroit costs about $1,600 more than one manufactured in Ontario. In addition, are economy is less productive because of “job lock.” Job lock simply means that people either stay at jobs or seek jobs because of health insurance rather than jobs best suited to their talents and skills. The externality is that the profits of the health insurance industry costs us big time, including poorer outcomes and diminished productivity and international competitiveness. If the health insurance industry improved the quality or timeliness of health care then maybe there would be a trade-off; but they don’t. In fact, all they do is serve as middle-men that negatively affect the quality and timeliness of health care.
We already pay more than 65% of health care through taxes in the U.S. Additionally, about 15% of health care is out-of-pocket, e.g. deductions, co-pays, and non-insured expenses. This sums to about 80% which as a percentage of GDP is higher than health care costs in any other nation in the world; yet, as I have shown above, we do poorly on almost every measure, e.g. infant mortality, life-expectancy, treatable outcomes, and even wait times (that is, if one doesn’t pick and choose one or two countries with universal non-profit health care; but looks at all of them). So, in essence, we already pay for health care and then give 20 ? 25% of every dollar to keep a parasitic non-beneficial private health insurance industry in business. In a book by Dr. Michael Rachlis which is available to download for free on the internet he gives numerous examples from around the world, including from the U.S., of programs that have improved the quality and timeliness of health care, all easier to carry out in a single-payer system (Michael Rachlis, MD, “Prescription for Excellence,” http://www.michaelrachlis.com).
Health care does not function as a competitive market consumer good. It is a public good. None of the major assumptions underlying market models apply to health care, e.g. information asymmetries, etc. Several economists have written clear expositions of why health care does not work as a market consumer good, among these are Nobel prize winning economist Kenneth Arrow in an article entitled “Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care,” The American Economic Review, Volume 53, No. 5, December 1963, pp 141 ? 149. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/82/2/PHCBP.pdf and Thomas Rice in his book “The Economics of Health Reconsidered,” Health Administration Press, 1998. A new edition is due out the end of this summer.
Your “job lock externality” all started when Mr. FDR decided it was a fucking good idea to fix prices and wages, employers turned to different forms of compensation to make up for it, and continues today because of the tax incentives and subsidies businesses receive from the federal government for providing health insurance.
What’s especially amusing is that the union guy keeps calling the Whole Foods employees “ignorant”, when it’s blindingly obvious that he’s the fucking ignorant one, given that he doesn’t appear to have a clue what kind of health plan the whole foods employees have.
729zoom,
Who in God’s name considers Friedrich Hayek “the founder of free market economics”? Aside from pig-ignorant mouth breathers who apparently believe that the study of political economy didn’t start until the 20th century like you, that is? Though it fits in with your bizarre statement that “Hayek was about as rabid anti-government as one can find,” which demonstrates near-total ignorance of anything relating to Hayek, classical liberalism and libertarianism as whole, and the entire science of economics.
Listen carefully to the union guy — you’ll understand his opposition quickly. It’s basically the union feeling threatened by someone else obviously taking care of their employees. (As usual, instead of fixing problems, the union is only interested in creating strife.)
I don’t think that 729zoom and Chad are given an entirely fair treatment here! Less namecalling and more arguments please.
Contrary to 729zoom I don’t think that healthcare can be classified as a public good – for the simple reason that health is an individual thing whereas security for instance isn’t.
To be more precise: It by and large doesn’t affect your neighbors wellbeing that you die. Death is a natural thing weather from a treatable disease, starvation (because one can’t afford food) or from old age or accitents.
Security (police and firemen) is different: Here you and your neighbors get something you can ONLY (or almost only) get by banding together – this makes police and firemen truer public goods than health care (and food distribution).
Health care is – however – a product with a VERY low price elaticity i.e. almost everybody will spend all they have on saving themselves or someone they love.
The low price elasticity doesn’t prevent pricecompetition however. Eventhough people are mostly willing to spend all they own on health care, they still want the best dollar value – this is where the Wholefoods plan excels and deliver improved outcomes AND cost savings: By reintegrating consumption and payment.
I live in Northern Europe in a country with pretty good free singlepayer government provided healthcare – and yet the Wholefoods approach would also work here. How do I know? Because dental care in my country is totally private (except for young children). I have to pay all my dental care myself. And lo and behold: Unlike ordinary health care I can get all the dental care I want (and can pay for). I pay my dentist less for having my teeth examined than my mother pay her hairdresser. Still dentalcare is more expensive than in the neighboring countries. Why? Simpley because our insurance companies once offered dental care as parts of their accident insurence policies. Immediately everyone with such a policy consumed a lot more dental care (it was “free” better claim back that premium!), the dentists jacked up their prices -‘cos the customers didn’t care – they weren’t paying anyway.
Predictably the system collapsed. The insurance companies cancelled dental care in their policies, inefficient dental practises collapsed, there was unemployment among dentists and calls for mandated dental coverage or public coverage for dental care – neither of which were happily instituted.
So dental care went back to private payment, but still with slightly higher prices the those neighboring countries which never flirted with insurance.
Your high costs in America are, in my opinion, primarily associated with the dissosiation between consumer and payee, this creates overconsumption of certain services and underconsumption of others. A more or less mandated private/publich option will not alther this in any way, it will simply create one of two possible outcomes: Either the medical industry will go on an uninhibeted binge on taxpayer money – or doctors and other medical personnel will become serfs – slaves beholden to the State. Either way the consumer/patient will suffer, for he/she has no stake in the game other than as a pawn.
BTW: The boycott Wholefoods page mentiones that healthcare is viewed as a humanright under the European Union Constitution among other documents. Here you Americans must understand one significant fact about the rest of the world: We write a lot of things in our binding documents that we have absolutely no intention of being bound by. It’s sort of a polite fiction: We just blightely pretend. This is one of the principal differences between America and Europe that I believe I can spot as a forigner.
Anyway – this is my 5 ? cents (or rather “oerer”)
This makes me WANT to shop at Whole Foods. I do not have one close to me but I will definitely seek on out anytime I am out of town.
Here’s a thought experiment: What if insurance of all types did not exist?
Would drivers drive more carefully?
Would homeowners be more careful about fire and other hazards?
Could builders do anything to reduce risk of damage?
Would thrill seekers consider potential consequences before they jump?
Would people eat better and exercise more?
Could we survive?
Is it moral for risky people to have the consequences of their bad habits and behavior to be covered by less risky people?
What would replace insurance? Contingency Savings and Free Markets?
I have been a Whole Foods shopper for years. Although conservative shopped there because good quality food that I can not find elsewhere. Also, very helpful staff. Now I know why – they are treated better than most employees! When this article came out (and I did actually read it, unlike so many with whom I spoke), I spoke with the employees every time I shopped and they all had good things to say about their bennefits. Found out what their beneifit package is, how their senority works, their voting as a group for employee issues, etc. Better than any employer for whom I ever worked!
Obviously, I have continued to shop there as usual. Actually, I am more happy to shop there now than before. If it hadn’t been for all the empty hoopla surrounding the op-ed piece I would have continued shopping there thinking I was supporting a raging liberal Democrat’s business. Now I know he is a compassionate, thinking libertarain – much better!
Is it moral for risky people to have the consequences of their bad habits and behavior to be covered by less risky people?
What would replace insurance? Contingency Savings and Free Markets?
My only point is that if you take the Bible straight, as I’m sure many of Reasons readers do, you will see a lot of the Old Testament stuff as absolutely insane.
This makes me WANT to shop at Whole Foods. I do not have one close to me but I will definitely seek on out anytime I am out of town.
is good