Excerpt
SUMMARY: Recently, insurance company Aetna voluntarily upped its minimum wage to $16 per hour, giving roughly 6,000 of its lowest-paid employees an average raise of 11 percent. Next year, the company also plans to offer lower-cost benefits to some workers. What’s behind the wage hike? Economics correspondent Paul Solman talks to Aetna's CEO about the investment.
KENDRICK BROWN, Aetna Customer Service Representative: There are necessities and then there are wants. You know what I mean?
PAUL SOLMAN (NewsHour): Forget his wants. Health insurance claims servicer Kendrick Brown has barely been able to afford life’s necessities, like a car, after his was totaled.
KENDRICK BROWN: I actually got in an accident. My insurance paid off what the car was worth, but, as far as what I had borrowed to actually purchase the car, I still owed. Once you get in such a hole, you’re like, OK, would it make more sense for me to actually, you know, file bankruptcy?
PAUL SOLMAN: So, when his employer, Aetna insurance, recently, voluntarily and suddenly raised its minimum wage to $16 an hour.
KENDRICK BROWN: It was a happy day. After taxes, it was like somewhere between $100 and $150 dollars every check. And that goes a long way. That goes a long way.
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