Wal-Mart Stores Inc., under pressure to shoulder more of its workers' healthcare costs, outlined plans Thursday to improve its benefit offerings, including opening more clinics in stores and shortening the period that part-time employees have to wait before they can buy coverage.
The world's largest retailer also said it would expand its cheapest health insurance option, an $11-a-month plan that has been offered in selected areas. The "value plan," which costs about $20 for families and allows three doctor visits and three prescriptions before a $1,000 deductible kicks in, will be offered to half of the company's employees, Wal-Mart said.
The proposals are in a speech that Wal-Mart's chief executive is scheduled to deliver Sunday. They follow promises the company made last year to bring healthcare within reach of all its nearly 1.4 million U.S. employees.
Over the last several months, Wal-Mart has come under increasing criticism for what opponents call stingy health benefits. The company released highlights of the CEO's speech the same day a union-backed group issued a report claiming that U.S. taxpayers spent $1.5 billion last year providing medical care for uninsured Wal-Mart workers.
Wal-Mart said the five-page report was a publicity stunt based on poor methodology.
The company said the number of employees covered by its health plans increased slightly last year to 46% -- below the national average of 60%. It said almost one-third of its workers get health insurance elsewhere, which critics say is evidence that the retailer relies on state programs and other companies to cover its workers.
At a time when expansion is crucial to the company's future growth, especially along the East and West coasts, the attacks against Wal-Mart are taking a toll, at least in terms of public opinion.
In Fortune magazine's 2006 list of America's most admired companies, released this week, Wal-Mart fell eight spots to No. 12. The Bentonville, Ark., retailer, which has more than 3,850 U.S. stores and nearly 2,300 international locations, held the top spot on the list in 2003 and 2004.
The speech by CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. at a National Governors Assn. meeting in Washington is aimed at an audience playing a key role in the company's latest healthcare battle: state-by-state efforts to force Wal-Mart to pay more of its workers' medical costs.
