GSK's Garnier tells USA to arrange Massachusetts health coverage

UK-based world number two drugmaker GlaxoSmithkline's chief executive, Jean-Pierre Garnier, has spoken out in favor of the US federal government providing universal health care coverage. The system he proposes would be modelled on the program recently approved in the state of Massachusetts, which includes provisions making it compulsory for most employers to provide health care insurance for their workforce.

Mr Garnier's comments come at a time when health care insurance coverage is a major political issue in the run-up to mid-term elections this November. He said: "essentially, everyone must have insurance; like car insurance, it becomes mandatory."

Meanwhile, John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO labor union federation, condemned the Massachusetts program for failing to provide coverage for employees in small businesses. He said that the decision by the State's Republican Governor, Mitt Romney, to veto the requirement for employer-provided coverage for businesses with as few as 10 employees, "sends the wrong message to other states looking for answers to their own health care crises."