Starbucks Pays More for Health Insurance than for Coffee

Government officials and business leaders on Wednesday (9-14) attended a summit meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways to control health care costs and improve health care coverage, CQ HealthBeat reports. Participants at the summit included Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D); Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R); Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.); and executives from Verizon, Costco, Pittney-Bowes, Starbucks and Honeywell.

According to Starbucks Chair Howard Schultz, Starbucks has faced double-digit health insurance cost increases each of the last four years and expects to spend $200 million on health care for its U.S. employees — more than the total amount it spends on coffee. He said the increases are “nonsustainable,” even for companies that “want to do the right thing.” Starbucks provides health insurance to all employees who work more than 20 hours weekly. Schultz said the U.S. is “on a collision course” as health care costs rise. He added, “I would hope congressional leaders put this at the front of their agenda”.