Walmart cuts healthcare for part-time employees, 26,000 to lose benefits

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A day after announcing it will be staffing its stores with insurance agents to help customers sign up for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, big box giant Walmart confirmed it will no longer provide health insurance benefits for part-time employees, and will raise monthly costs for employees who remain eligible.

"Like every company, Walmart continues to face rising health care costs," the company wrote on its official blog.

"This year, the expenses were significant and led us to make some tough decisions as we begin our annual enrollment. As a result, today we announced that our associates will see an increase in premiums for 2015. For example, our most popular and lowest cost associate-only plan will increase by $3.50 to $21.90 per pay period – still half the average premium other retail employees pay."

Of Walmart's 1.3 million employees, 26,000 who work 30 hours a week or less will lose their coverage entirely. That is in addition to workers facing a higher cost of living without any plan from Walmart to raise their average wages.

"We're also changing eligibility for some part-time associates. We will continue to provide affordable health care to all eligible associates, including part-time, who work more than 30 hours. However ... we will no longer be providing health benefits to part-time associates who work less than 30 hours. "