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Wal-Mart reducing health insurance, raising premiums for some

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Comments (6)

Friday, October 21, 2011

(Updated 10:26 am)

By Anne D'Innocenzio
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, is scaling back health care coverage for future part-time workers while raising premiums for some full-time workers.

The discounter says that rising health care costs are forcing it to eliminate healthcare coverage for future part-time workers who work less than 24 hours a week. New part-time employees who average 24 hours to 33 hours a week will not be able to include a spouse as part of their health care coverage. However, their children will qualify under their plan.

The company also says full-time workers who are smokers will see their premiums substantially rise.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., defines full-time workers as anyone who works 34 or more hours per week. The company employs more than 1.4 million workers.

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arnie

October 21, 2011 - 11:11 am EDT

Wal-Mart.......the model for corpoate greed.

Bilbo

October 21, 2011 - 11:44 am EDT

..yep..these are the "private" corporations that ol' Phil Berger and his henchmen want us to work for...

DocF

October 21, 2011 - 12:53 pm EDT

The comment regarding Phil Berger is right on the money. This is what the extreme right wing thinks is an ideal slave owner, err make that employer, for the masses of poor folk to work for. As long as people can be duped into supporting the greedy and the sleazy politicians they have doing their bidding, the country will be in worse shape each day than the day before.

nc84

October 21, 2011 - 1:24 pm EDT

hello my name is nc84. I'm an American consumer and I've been Wal-Mart free since 2008.

DarkHell

October 21, 2011 - 4:51 pm EDT

They always have to have a reason to stick it to the average working man and this is no exception to the rule. The rising health care cost could be because of age and many other factors such as doctors greed. Walmart claims to be an advocate of those who just want to work,yet they find reason after reason to take more and more way from the employees while the fat cats who sit on their rears all day long doing nothing reap the rewards.

JustMe4491

October 21, 2011 - 6:58 pm EDT

Walmart was already on our list. But we did recently add NetFlix and BOA to it. The list is getting longer but we seem to be able to live quite well without these companies. We have fired them as the providers of goods and/or services for our family. There are still bargains out there and once you are motivated, they get easier to find.