Just read a blog post by Mark Cuban where he was wondering about how people could get free health insurance. His idea would be that companies like Walmart would agree to put a person on their corporate health insurance so you would get the same coverage as their employees do if you pledge to buy only from them (for products that they offer). That is an oversimplification, there would be no way to know that you bought only from them so they would probably require you to spend a certain amount per year to qualify, but it is an interesting idea.
Costco offers certain customers a free executive membership. With that membership you get a percentage of what you spend back in cash each year. If your refund is not at least $100 (the cost of the annual membership) then they will pay the membership fee for you. Of course they only offer this to people who spend a lot with them to start with.
So if Walmart started a plan where you got a "membership" card that you scanned every time you bought something and you spent a minimum amount per year, they give you free health insurance. I have no idea how much that amount would be, but it is an interesting, outside the box, idea.
Here is Mark's blog post on it.
http://blogmaverick.com/2010/02/27/i...lth-insurance/