Wal-Mart recently released this week details of its impressive new health insurance offerings for its 1.3 million (!) “associates.”

Workers can customize their health plans with many choices of deductibles, premiums, and credits that are deposited to personal accounts for routine health spending. One plan carries a premium of as little as $9 a month, with access to 2,400 generic drugs for $4 each, a $100 credit, and no lifetime maximum. Yes, the plan has a $1,000 deductible, which is high for someone earning near the minimum wage, but this is real insurance protection against the risk of major hospital and doctor bills. And for $9 a month! Another plan is a lot like the coverage that members of Congress have -- and it costs workers only $62 a month.

Wal-Mart is a tough negotiator, it has a huge pool of workers to spread the risk, and it operates under ERISA so it isn’t confronted with the plethora of state rules and regulations that drive up prices and drive out competition.

More choices at a lower cost? Who said it couldn’t be done?