Pressure from Unions, Community Groups Force Wal-Mart to Expand Health Benefits

Medical care for uninsured Wal-Mart workers cost taxpayers $1.5 billion last year

Thanks to a multi-year union campaign to shame Wal-Mart for its abysmal record of providing healthcare for its employees, Wal-Mart recently announced that it would be expanding access to health benefits. The proposal would reduce the amount of time part-time workers must wait before becoming eligible to participate in company health plans and introduce more in-store clinics to provide basic services like flu shots. Also, access to the “value plan” – the most affordable of the healthcare plans the company offers employees – would be expanded to include approximately half of all Wal-Mart employees.

Labor unions, elected officials, and community groups joined together to pressure the nation’s largest retailer to provide quality, affordable health benefits for its employees. With 1.4 million employees in the United States, Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest employer, but it gets a failing grade for not covering most of its workers. Less than half of Wal-Mart employees are covered through the company – the national average is 60 percent - and $1.5 billion in taxpayer dollars was spent last year providing healthcare for uninsured Wal-Mart workers.

California State Senator Carole Midgen introduced legislation this session aimed at squarely at Wal-Mart. The bill would require companies with more than 10,000 employees to either spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits or make payments into a state fund for the uninsured. Maryland passed similar legislation in January, overriding the veto Republican Gov. Bob Erlich.