Healthcare Industry News > Wal-Mart improves employee health care plans

Wal-Mart improves employee health care plans

After years of criticism, Wal-Mart is making changes in the health care plans being offered to their employees.  The retailer is the country’s largest private employer but still only provides health care to about half of its 1.4 million workers nationwide.  However, some former critics see the changes as a step in the right direction for the business.

Originally, Wal-Mart required its part-time employees to wait two years before being eligible for health insurance benefits.  The most affordable plan cost $1,500 in annual premiums and had a $3,000 deductible employees had to meet before Wal-Mart would cover any of their medical expenses.  Considering the average employee only makes $20,000 a year those fees were pretty steep.  Now the company has reduced its waiting period to only one year and has plans with deductibles as low as $350.  Some plans also include health care credits which can be used towards routine care, although these plans have higher deductibles.

While the changes are an improvement, Wal-Mart’s benefits package does not compare to that offered by Costco.  Their plans cost employees several hundred dollars a year but provide extensive coverage.

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