Summary: The largest private employer in the United States has announced that it is cutting health coverage for its part-time employees who work fewer than 30 hours per week.
Health insurance coverage will be dropped for some of the part-time employees in the United States of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to a report from The Associated Press.
Beginning on January 1, health insurance for employees who work less than 30 hours per week will no longer be offered. This change will affect 30,000 employees, which accounts for five percent of the company’s part-time workforce.
“We had to make some tough decisions,” Sally Welborn, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of benefits, said.
Welborn also said that she does not know how much this will save the company, but Wal-Mart will work with a third-party organization to help the affected workers find insurance.
“We are trying to balance the needs of (workers) as well as the costs of (workers) as well as the cost to Wal-Mart.”
Wal-Mart said that more employees and their families enrolled in the health care plans offered by the company than expected following the activation of the Affordable Care Act.
The company said that its health care costs will hit $500 million for this fiscal year, which is $170 million more than originally thought.
Wal-Mart has also begun to increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs employees have to pay in order to fight rising costs of healthcare coverage. All of the company’s full-time and part-time workers will see their premiums increase.
Image credit: Wal-Mart