Whole Foods Founder John Mackey : Reactionary on Health Care Reform

Whole Foods founder John Mackey speaks out against health care reform in Wall Street Journal

...we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction -- toward less government control and more individual empowerment -- Whole Foods founder John Mackey.

By Aptoklas / August 12, 2009

The typical Whole Foods customer tends to be educated, liberal and urbane and I would venture to guess supportive of President Obama and his attempt to reform health care so the richest country on earth no longer has a health care system ranked 37 in terms of coverage and efficiency. It is cruel that we are the only industrialized country on earth that does not mandate universal healthcare coverage for our citizens.

Whole Foods advertises their values as including:

Caring about our communities & our environment

Whole Foods does not care about the members of its communities who need true health care reform. It comes as a shock that John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods has an OpEd in todays Wall Street Journal titled: The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare

He offers talking points straight out of the GOP and Health Insurance lobby play book such as:

the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction -- toward less government control and more individual empowerment.

He in essence recommends high deductible policies i.e. $2,500-5,000 with HSA's. He also advocates the end of consumers having the rights to file lawsuits.

He also states that state laws should be curtailed that mandate the type of coverage Insurance Companies should be required to offer. Pray tell what mandates is he referring to? Cancer treatments, mammograms?

Whole Foods is known to be anti-union. Their founder has now thrown down the gauntlet and shown them to be anti-progressive and frankly a threat to the health and well being of millions who do not have health insurance and those who could barely afford it. So much for being a "Holistic Caring Company."

It’s up to you to decide whether to frequent this store but remember, their superficial catering to liberal sensibilities is enriching those opposed to all you hold sacred.

Up to you if you want to be taken for a sucker.

Feel free to contact them:

U.S. National Offices
World Headquarters
Whole Foods Market, Inc.
550 Bowie Street
Austin, TX 78703-4644
512.477.4455
512.477.5566 voicemail
512.482.7000 fax

Source / Daily Kos

For previous Rag Blog articles on Whole Foods Market, the increasingly reactionary politics and policies embraced by founder John Mackey and the increasingly conventional nature of the "organic" giant's inventory, go here.

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