By Drew Armstrong, CQ Staff

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, announced Tuesday that it would support a mandate on businesses to help expand health care coverage, an about-face from other business interests that have strongly opposed any such requirement.

Wal-Mart’s support adds serious backing to the idea of a mandate, which Democrats want to add to health care overhaul legislation. The overall goal is to expand coverage to all Americans.

The company issued a statement in support of the mandate along with the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress, two liberal-leaning groups that have been pushing for a health care overhaul.

“We are for shared responsibility. Not every business can make the same contribution, but everyone must make some contribution. We are for an employer mandate which is fair and broad in its coverage, but any alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers to hiring entry level employees,” the groups said in a statement.

Other business interests — led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — have been firmly against any form of employer mandate or requirement that employers pay substantially to help expand health care coverage.

And Wal-Mart’s backing comes with some conditions, said spokesman Greg Rossiter.

Rossiter said that Wal-Mart wanted an employer mandate that would have companies pay in based not on how many employees they have, but based on “profit per employee.” That would favor companies such as Wal-Mart with high numbers of low-wage employees by lowering the per-employee cost of any mandate.

If an employer mandate was constructed otherwise, Rossiter said, “it certainly could become a disincentive” to support it.

Rossiter said a mandate should also come along with “affordable options” for people to buy health care coverage, as well as tax credits for small businesses to help them provide coverage for their employees.

In a statement, Leslie Dach, Wal-Mart’s head of government relations, made clear that a mandate should not be written in a way that makes it harder to hire low-wage workers.

“We believe the mandate should cover as many businesses as possible, and cover part-time as well as full-time employees,” Dach said. “Any alternative to an employer mandate should not create barriers or disincentives to hiring workers with disabilities, entry level employees, or people from low income families.”

Currently, Democrats are drafting legislation that seems certain to include some sort of employer mandate. A draft of health care overhaul legislation in the House has a “pay or play” requirement that would have employers offer coverage or pay into a fund to help people buy insurance. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is considering and expected to include a similar proposal, and the Senate Finance Committee is also examining some version of the policy.