Corporate Giant Walmart Offers Better, More Affordable Insurance Than Obamacare
Analysis: ‘Evil’ Corporate Giant Walmart Offers Better, More Affordable Insurance Than Obamacare
January 7, 2014 by Personal Liberty News Desk
Walmart is a perpetual target of liberal activists and unions who contend that the mega retail chain mistreats its employees by paying unfairly low wages and providing substandard healthcare coverage to workers. But the retailer’s detractors may be surprised to learn about the findings of a recent analysis which demonstrates that the healthcare plans Walmart provides to its employees are actually significantly better than plans available through Obamacare.
The Washington Examiner teamed up with independent health insurance agents affiliated with the National Association of Health Underwriters and other health policy wonks to compare cost and coverage differences in plans provided to Walmart employees and plans offered through Obamacare.
The results of the analysis indicate that the retail chain’s insurance options are not only more affordable overall, but also provide better access to medical care providers.
Via the Examiner:For a monthly premium as low as roughly $40, an individual who is a Walmart HRA plan enrollee can obtain full-service coverage through a Blue Cross Blue Shield preferred provider organization. A family can get coverage for about $160 per month.
Unlike Obamacare, there are no income eligibility requirements. Age and gender do not alter premium rates. The company plan is the same for all of Walmart’s 1.1 million enrolled employees and their dependents, from its cashiers to its CEO.
A Journal of the American Medical Association analysis from September showed that unsubsidized Obamacare enrollees will face monthly premiums that are five to nine times higher than Walmart premiums.
JAMA found the unsubsidized premium for a nonsmoking gouple age 60 can cost $1,365 per month versus the Walmart cost of about $134 for the same couple.
The medical journal reported a 30-year-old smoker would pay up to $428 per month, in contrast to roughly $70 each month for a Walmart employee.
A family of four could pay a $962 premium, but the same Walmart family member would pay about $160.
Low premiums are not the only distinguishing feature of the Walmart plan. The retailer’s employees can use eight of the country’s most prestigious medical facilities, including the Mayo Clinic, Pennsylvania’s Geisinger Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic.
At these institutions, which Walmart calls “Centers of Excellence,” Walmart employees and their dependents can get free heart or spinal surgery. They can also get free knee and hip replacements at four hospitals nationwide.
Many top-rated Walmart hospitals — such as the Mayo and Cleveland clinics — are left out of most Obamacare exchange plans.
Read the full analysis here.
Filed Under: Liberty News, Staff Reports
http://personalliberty.com/2014/01/0...han-obamacare/
