John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, Inc., is attempting to back up from his op-ed piece on health care reform in the Wall Street Journal from August 11.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.htm

As you can read, Mackey is against the idea of a government-run health care plan for all Americans. He believes we are already on the verge of bankruptcy (No...really.) and that Medicare is running out of money. A single-payer system for America would only increase the debt Americans are dealing with already and wouldn't be as effective as the reforms he proposes such as repealing state laws that prevent health insurers from competing across state lines and tort reform for doctors to prevent people from recovering big damages for malpractice. He suggests that we adopt, among other ideas, the type of insurance that Whole Foods offers its own employees.

In response to an e-mail I sent declaring that I would be boycotting Whole Foods because of Mackey's opposition to single-payer health care, or at the very least, the public option, I received the following e-mail from the Customer Service division of Whole Foods Market, Inc.:

"To our customers,

As you are aware, John Mackey wrote an Op/Ed piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week on health care reform, one of the biggest and most emotional issues facing our country. John's intent was to express his personal opinions -- not those of Whole Food Market team members or our company as a whole. Still, it's very clear that John's piece offended some of our customers, other members of the communities we serve and some of our team members as well. 
That was not John's intention - in fact, John does not mention the President at all in his piece. John has posted the unedited piece to his blog where people can read it as it was intended.

We offer you our sincere apology.

We'd like to clarify a few things that have been misinterpreted:
 
John's Op/Ed piece was written in favor of health care reform.
In response to President Obama's invitation to all Americans to put forward constructive ideas for reforming our health care system, John was asked to write an Op/Ed piece and he gave his personal opinion. John titled the piece "Health Care Reform," but an editor at the Journal rewrote the headline to call it "Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare," which led to antagonistic feelings by many.
 
Whole Foods Market has no official position on the issue.
That said, we have attempted to be part of the solution in health care reform for many years by providing innovative health care options to our team members. We believe that our high deductible medical insurance plan coupled with a company-funded HSA is an excellent way to empower team members to make their own health care choices.
 
John wanted to share our experience with others through his Op/Ed piece.
He believes that the specific ideas he put forward would improve access and cost of health care for more people. Because our plan has held down overall costs (relative to other plans), Whole Foods Market has been able to pay 100 percent of the premiums for our full-time team members -- about 89% of our workforce. (Part-timers are eligible for the insurance plan too and pay the premium themselves.) Our team members vote on our plan every three years to make sure they continue to have a voice in our benefits.
 
Whole Foods Market has a 30-year track record of caring about our customers, team members and communities. From local loan programs to salary caps, from donations to non-profits to funding the Whole Planet Foundation, our innovative programs are created and designed by team members who care about their fellow citizens.

We all know there are many opinions on the health care debate, including inside our own company.  As we, as a nation, continue to sort through this together, we are hopeful that both sides can do so in a civil manner that will lead to positive change for all concerned, and we thank you for sharing your opinions with us.

Mackey's blog contains the same piece as published in the WSJ with an different headline and the alteration of a paragraph and a few words, but essentially the same piece. Nowhere, in either version, does one find any support for a national health care service. Instead, it reflects the touting of Mackey's company's superior health plan for its employees and the idea that if only people would eat better foods (HEY! I RUN A WHOLE FOODS STORE!) and manage their own health better, we wouldn't need anything as expensive and silly as single-payer health care.

Read it all for yourselves. I see nothing in Mackey's "real article" to change my opinion. Boycotting Whole Foods isn't a hardship on myself, since I am one of those people who refer to it as "Whole Paycheck" because of its exhorbitant prices. I belong to a community food co-op, so my orientation is to buy local anyway. Boycotting Whole Foods is my political obligation. I want single-payer health care in the United States, and I'll fight opposition on all fronts...even on the level of yuppie food stores.