As if President Clinton did not have enough to contend with, he is now faced with implacable opposition over two Health Billsfrom the mighty IBM Corp – well it may in reality be a paper tiger these days, but in the popular American psyche, of which the President is classic exemplar, it is still a colossus and a terrifying foe. IBM is trying to organise a write-in from all 105,000 of its US employees to urge their congressmen and senators to make changes in how two Democratic proposals would affect company health plans. IBM had largely supported the goals and approach of the original Clinton Administration plan, but last week, it sent electronic mail to its employees urging the write-in over its concerns about two newer bills which it says would hurt its ability to offer a cover-all benefits plan to US employees. Currently, its plan covers 600,000 people, including family dependents, but the new proposals could reduce that pool and thereby increase the costs of the insurance, according to IBM. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act currently allows a company with employees in many states to sidestep individual state requirements for how benefits are paid if the company meets federal standards, but the new bills leave out this exemption and may allow states to eliminate company health plans and compel employees to be part of a state programme. According to the New York Times most IBMers support the firm’s stand on the contentious bills.
