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PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano gave a cool response Monday to comments by the head of Wal-Mart, who suggested the reason so many of his company's workers are getting state-paid health care is that state programs are so generous.

"That was a 'heads I win — tails you lose' argument," Napolitano said. "I don't think that was well-received by the governors."

On Sunday, Lee Scott, Wal-Mart's chief executive officer, told a meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington that his company is improving its own health plans, including providing more coverage for children.

But he said, "Many states made their Medicaid program far more generous in order to cover the kids of working families."

That includes Arizona, where a voter-approved initiative said anyone earning below the federal poverty level is eligible for free care from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's alternative to Medicaid. For a family of four this year, that is $20,000.

An analysis last year of Department of Economic Security records showed nearly one in 10 Wal-Mart employees in Arizona was getting health insurance through AHCCCS. Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the state.

By contrast, other retailers among the top 15 employers had about half the rate of AHCCCS enrollment as Wal-Mart's. Overall, the analysis showed about 2,700 Wal-Mart workers enrolled in AHCCCS.

Those figures do not include KidsCare, a separate program operated by AHCCCS for children. It has more liberal income standards. AHCCCS says children in a family of four with an income of up to $38,700 a year could qualify for this program.

"Are you right to want to make sure that the kids of working families have health coverage, even if it's Medicaid?" Scott said to the governors. "You bet you are."

Napolitano said that while she and other governors may not have liked Scott's comments, it would be wrong to view the issue as one that concerns solely Wal-Mart.

"It's about health care generally," Napolitano said.

"What we are finding is that until our country addresses the issue of health care and who pays for it, this is becoming an increasing part of our loss of competitiveness in the world economy," the governor said. "And it's going to require a lot more steps than Wal-Mart simply putting a few more of its employees on insurance."

Scott told the governors that they should avoid measures that mandate companies to provide health care. He also said his company's health plans are both accessible and affordable.

"We know this because 30 percent of our associates who have our health coverage were uninsured before they started working at Wal-Mart," Scott said.

He promised "significant steps" to improve coverage, including expansion of what has until now been a small program that allows workers to buy some type of insurance for $11 a month and $9 for each child.