That’s right, folks. Starbucks now spends more on health insurance for its workers than it does for the primary product it sells: coffee. We’re in trouble, folks:

Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks, announces his plans to spend more on health insurance for its employees this year than on raw materials needed to brew its coffee.
According to Schultz, the Seattle-based company has had double-digit increases in insurance costs for the last four years.
Schultz made the announcement at a Washington, D.C. meeting with lawmakers from his home state – one of several organized by Schultz to address “a growing health care crisis.”
Shultz said he hopes congressional leaders will put the issue “at the front of their agenda.”

It’s similar to the American car manufacturers; they spend more on health insurance than on the steel to build their cars.

Something’s got to change, but mark my words–if it hasn’t changed by the time the avian flu hits (if the epidemiology predictions are right), it’ll definitely change after.

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