Wal-Mart cuts some health care coverage

NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest private employer, is scaling back the eligibility of health care coverage offered to future part-timers and raising premiums for many of its full-time workers.

The discounter, which employs more than 1.4 million workers, said the changes were forced by rising health care costs. All future part-time workers working less than 24 hours a week, on average, will be affected.

Wal-Mart is working hard to reverse nine straight quarters of decreases in revenue at stores open at least a year, and may see a gain by the third quarter, which ends in late October.

Premiums will rise for many existing workers, and the company will reduce by half the amount it contributes for each worker to help pay for health care expenses not covered under their plan. Tobacco users will particularly be hit hard, seeing premiums more than double compared with increases of as much as 41 percent for singles, according to Making Change at Wal-Mart, a union-backed group which has been pressuring Wal-Mart on worker rights.

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