Walmart Cuts Health Benefits for Part-Timers

Walmart expects to pay about $500 million more in 2014 than it did in 2013 to accommodate the additional 100,000 enrollees who signed up for the company’s coverage this year. Some 1.2 million Walmart employees and their families now receive benefits, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The jump in enrollments this year caught Walmart by surprise, and cutting the part-timers out will reduce costs. The cost of the company’s lowest-cost plan that covers an eligible employee will rise to $21.90 a month for 2015, up about 18%.

By way of contrast, Walmart’s home state of Arkansas expects insurance rates to fall by an average of approximately 2% in the state’s health insurance marketplace. That’s not a typo — health insurance premiums in Arkansas are expected to decline 2% next year. Oregon is expecting a drop of 2.5%.

Nationally, in the 38 states that have so far finalized or released rates, the average premium would rise 6%, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

There is a certain irony to Walmart trying to push sales of health insurance to its customers and cutting benefits for its employees. The good news for the employees who have been cut loose is that they might find cheaper and better coverage somewhere else.

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