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Wal-Mart rolls back health care benefits
msnbc ^ | 10/21/2011 | msnbc

Posted on 10/21/2011 9:12:04 AM PDT by tobyhill

Prices aren't the only thing being slashed at Wal-Mart.

Amid rising costs, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer and the nation's largest private employer, said Friday that it is cutting health benefits for part-time workers and raising premiums for many of its full-time staff.

The news was first reported in The New York Times.

New part-time employees who work less than 24 hours per week on average will not be eligible for any of the company's health insurance plans. New employees who work 24 to 33 hours per week would not be allowed to add a spouse to their coverage, either, although children would still be covered.

The changes take effect in January, Reuters reported.

(Excerpt) Read more at bottomline.msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: healthcare; obama; obamacare; singlepayer; walmart
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To: PeterPrinciple
Do you know the history of why it is?

To get around wartime wage controls.

21 posted on 10/21/2011 9:40:46 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: marty60
Yes, they didn't think it would be successfully challenged because they were all told that the masses would love the plan and that it would lower cost.
22 posted on 10/21/2011 9:46:26 AM PDT by tobyhill (Obama, The Biggest Thief In American History)
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To: tobyhill

welcome to obamacare world


23 posted on 10/21/2011 9:52:39 AM PDT by silverleaf (Common sense is not so common - Voltaire)
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To: silverleaf
I would have more respect for Walmart and would probably shop there again if they just admit the reality of what Obamacare is doing but instead they prefer to pacify their Obama supporting customers and employees by claiming it had nothing to do with Obamacare.
24 posted on 10/21/2011 9:57:04 AM PDT by tobyhill (Obama, The Biggest Thief In American History)
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To: tobyhill

didn’t Wal-mart support Obamacare and higher minimum wages??


25 posted on 10/21/2011 9:57:04 AM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: GeronL
Yeppers and that's why they refuse to admit that Obamacare is mostly to blame for this situation they're in.
26 posted on 10/21/2011 9:58:47 AM PDT by tobyhill (Obama, The Biggest Thief In American History)
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To: GeronL
didn’t Wal-mart support Obamacare and higher minimum wages??

Of course. They got theirs. Time now to kneecap any entrepreneurs with any smart ideas about challenging them with a start-up.
27 posted on 10/21/2011 10:08:56 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Yep. I was just about to start up All-Mart and they stopped me cold. :p

heh


28 posted on 10/21/2011 10:13:16 AM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: marty60

I had thought so, too but I’m not finding it. Though I did find they and SEIU backed Obamacare.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/30/not-a-surprise-seiu-wal-mart-unite-behind-obamacare/


29 posted on 10/21/2011 10:13:22 AM PDT by Irenic
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30 posted on 10/21/2011 10:41:21 AM PDT by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list)
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To: tobyhill

Wal-Mart is missing a bet, here. They could set up a chain of stores designed specifically for “mass production medical testing”. Here’s the concept:

For a set contract price, all sorts of organizations send employees through these medical analysis centers that are somewhat like military induction medical centers, but far more complex. Segregated by gender, they provide their complete medical history and a list of all medications, OTC meds and supplements they are taking. They take off their clothes and put on medical gowns. Then, in some order:

Full body and dental X-ray and maybe other scans. Complete blood, urine, stool, saliva and hair testing. Fingerprints and retinal scans, height, weight, blood pressure. DNA test. Vision, hearing, smell (used for some neurological analysis), etc.

The idea being to provide a comprehensive medical baseline, as well as spotting major preexisting conditions, both known and unknown.

Processing hundreds of people every day, its purpose is not to diagnose and treat illness, but to ascertain “wellness”, as well as having a comprehensive snapshot of the person before they develop problems, so that changes can be automatically noted for physicians.

Over time, this could save companies a huge amount of money now lost to serious illness. But a Wal-Mart set up could then be subdivided for follow-up comparisons, such as the comprehensive blood work, which today is done by private labs.


31 posted on 10/21/2011 10:43:14 AM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

They made a effort at beginning such an enterprise a couple of years back. For some reason they stopped.

Probably the same reason they haven’t been able to get into the banking business, lawsuits from those aready established in the business.


32 posted on 10/21/2011 10:59:47 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (Overproduction, one of the top five worries of the American Farmer each and every year..)
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