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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (173267)	10/6/2014 8:55:39 PM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	4 Recommendations Recommended By locogringo lorne rayrohn TideGlider Respond to of 224749

Opinions Leon Panetta, other former Obama subordinates show stunning disloyalty washingtonpost.com The fleas are deserting the dog

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (173267)	10/7/2014 10:44:16 AM
From: TideGlider	1 Recommendation Recommended By locogringo Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 224749

Walmart Cuts Health Care Coverage For Most Part-Timers In Wake Of Obamacare \| By By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO Posted: 10/07/2014 10:01 am EDT Updated: 11 minutes ago FILE - In this May 9, 2013 file photo, a worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Wal-Mart store in La Habra, Calif. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is embracing a disciplined approach to expansion as it responds to a challenging global economy and increasing consumer demands for more convenience. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) \| ASSOCIATED PRESS [iframe width="0" height="0" title="Ad" id="atwAdFrame1" src="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/_uac/2014adpage.html" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="width: 0px; height: 0px; display: none;" allowtransparency="true" banid="1918609\|2"][/iframe] NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to eliminate health insurance coverage for most of its part-time U.S. employees in a move aimed at controlling rising health care costs of the nation's largest private employer. Starting Jan. 1, Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that it will no longer offer health insurance to employees who work less than an average of 30 hours a week. The move, which would affect 30,000 employees, follows similar decisions by Target, Home Depot and others to eliminate health insurance benefits for part-time employees. "We had to make some tough decisions," Sally Wellborn, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of benefits, told The Associated Press. Wellborn says the company will use a third-party organization to help part-time workers find insurance alternatives: "We are trying to balance the needs of (workers) as well as the costs of (workers) as well as the cost to Wal-Mart." Are you a Walmart worker losing your health care coverage? We'd like to hear from you. Please email us at jillian.berman@huffingtonpost.com The announcement comes after Wal-Mart said far more U.S. employees and their families are enrolling in its health care plans than it had expected following rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Wal-Mart, which employs about 1.4 million full- and part-time U.S. workers, says about 1.2 million Wal-Mart workers and family members combined now participate in its health care plan. That has had an impact on Wal-Mart's bottom line. Wal-Mart now expects the impact of higher health care costs to be about $500 million for the current fiscal year, or about $170 million higher than the original estimate of about $330 million that it gave in February. But Wal-Mart is among the last of its peers to cut health insurance for some part-time workers. In 2013, 62 percent of large retail chains didn't offer health care benefits to any of its part-time workers, according to Mercer, a global consulting company. That's up from 56 percent in 2009. "Retailers who offer part-time benefits are more of an exception than the rule," says Beth Umland, director of research for health and benefits at Mercer. Wal-Mart has been scaling back eligibility for part-time workers over the past few years, though. In 2011, Wal-Mart said it was cutting backing eligibility of its coverage of part-time workers working less than 24 hours a week. And then in 2013, it announced a threshold of 30 hours or under. Wal-Mart, like most big companies, also is increasing premiums, or out-of-pocket costs that employees pay, to counter rising health care costs. Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that it's raising premiums for all of its full-time workers: For a basic plan, of which 40 percent of its workers are enrolled, the premiums will go up to $21.90 per pay period, up from $18.40, starting Jan. 1. Wal-Mart also said that changes in the co-insurance, or the percentage workers pay before coverage kicks in, for the health reimbursement accounts and the health savings accounts will result in the company paying 75 percent of the eligible costs of doctor visits, tests, hospitalization and other services within the network after employees meet their deductible. That's down from 80 percent.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (173267)	10/7/2014 10:47:13 AM
From: TideGlider	1 Recommendation Recommended By locogringo Respond to of 224749

Walmart Introduces Cancer Care Benefits for Associates at Mayo Clinic By Published: Oct 7, 2014 10:00 a.m. ET BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct 07, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Building on its innovative program that has enhanced the quality of health care for its associates, Walmart announced it is expanding its Centers of Excellence program to include three cancers with Mayo Clinic, one of the nation’s leading health care providers. Effective Jan. 1, 2015, Walmart associates and family members enrolled in the company’s health reimbursement account plans or health savings account plan who are diagnosed with breast, lung or colorectal cancer can obtain a review of their medical records by Mayo Clinic, and when recommended, receive care covered at 100 percent for on-site visits at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center locations in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., or Phoenix, Ariz. “We are proud to expand our Centers of Excellence with Mayo Clinic to help ensure that our associates and their covered family members who are diagnosed with cancer receive the best care,” said Sally Welborn, senior vice president of global benefits at Walmart. “The three cancers covered under our program are among the most prevalent experienced by associates on our health care plans.” "We are pleased that Walmart approached us to help its associates diagnosed with breast, colon and lung cancer,” said Jan Buckner, M.D., deputy director for practice at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. “Our coordinated approach to cancer care offers patients the latest advances in treatment in a compassionate and caring environment.” Walmart’s Centers of Excellence cancer program will provide a review of an associate’s medical record, or their covered family member’s medical record, by Mayo Clinic oncologists following a diagnosis of breast, lung or colorectal cancer. The review will determine if they would benefit from an on-site visit at a Mayo Clinic location. On-site visits will be covered at 100 percent and will include recommended treatment, such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery without deductible or coinsurance, plus travel expenses for the patient and a caregiver. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) reports that breast cancer is the most common type of cancer, with about 235,000 new cases expected in the United States in 2014. Lung cancer, with over 224,000 cases expected this year, and colorectal cancer, with a projected 136,000 new cases in 2014, also rank among the most common cancers in the U.S. Walmart launched its first-of-a-kind Centers of Excellence program in January 2013, which focused on select spine and cardiac procedures. In 2014, Walmart partnered with the Pacific Business Group on Health to extend the Centers of Excellence program to include knee and hip replacement procedures. Walmart first partnered with Mayo Clinic in 1997 for associates in need of organ transplants. Walmart remains committed to making healthcare affordable for its associates. Hundreds of associates and their family members have elected to receive Centers of Excellence care since 2013