I applaud Wal-Mart's embrace of shared responsibility for health care financing and its support for an "employer mandate." Their recent letter (also signed by SEIU and CAP) to President Obama represents the kind of leadership we will need to finally achieve quality, affordable health care for every American.

As critical (if not more so) is their emphasis on cost control.  Time and time again we reiterate that rising health care costs threaten not just households, but also employers and governments.  To shore up our nation's fiscal future and sustainably finance reform, we must guarantee that health care reform will slow the rate of health care cost growth.

In their letter, Wal-Mart, SEIU, and CAP identify one possible solution outlined by former majority leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, and Bob Dole.  In addition, I would point you to the ideas put forth by Health CEOs for Health Reform at our recent event.  Their paper, Aligning U.S. Health Care Incentives to Better Serve Patients and Taxpayers, not only calls for providers to be held to cost and quality standards by a specified date to achieve cost control goals, but also outlines a pathway toward high-value, coordinated care that will make patients healthier and save money.

Wal-Mart's support of the employer mandate proves rising health care costs are a serious threat to even the most efficient business models.  Health CEOs for Health Reform's willingness to embrace provider accountability and move away from volume-driven, fee-for-service medicine proves it is possible to improve quality, while controlling the costs that hamper households, employers, and governments.

A successful health reform effort will demand extraordinary leadership from lawmakers, but it will also require forward-thinking support from key stakeholder constituencies.  Wal-Mart should be congratulated and other business leaders should echo their call. 

(PS. If you want to know more about Wal-Mart's path in terms of covering its own workers and looking for value in health care, read this February piece from the Washington Post.)