NYT: Wal-Mart to Expand Health Plan for Workers [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

Wal-Mart to Expand Health Plan for Workers
By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: October 24, 2005


Wal-Mart, which has long been criticized for the benefits it offers to its workers, is introducing a cheaper health insurance plan, with monthly premiums as low as $11, that the company hopes will greatly increase the number of its employees who can afford coverage.

Jumping into a new area, Wal-Mart is also offering health savings accounts, which the federal government introduced last year. Few employers offer them.

The new benefits, which Wal-Mart calls the Value Plan, follow years of complaints that at Wal-Mart, the nation's largest employer, health insurance is out of reach for many of its 1.2 million workers in the United States, forcing thousands of them to turn to state-sponsored programs or forgo health coverage altogether.

"We are lowering the costs to make health insurance more affordable," said a Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Fogleman, who declined to comment on how much the plan would cost the company. Asked if the new insurance plan was in response to growing criticism, he said, "It's fair to say we are listening, but more so to our associates than anyone else."

Health insurance specialists generally praised the new plan, saying its lower premiums were likely to attract more employees and thereby reduce the ranks of the uninsured. They also noted, however, that the plan's $1,000 deductible would be high for Wal-Mart workers, particularly older employees who are likely to visit doctors more often, and might not cover expensive treatments, particularly in its first year....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/business/24mart.html