There are some good things in here and specifically where the provisions relate to what a “spouse” or “partner” parameter is.  The company has over a million employees and same sex marriages are recognized.

“Employees' domestic partners can be covered if they are legal spouses, not legally separated; or a domestic partner of same or opposite gender in an ongoing, exclusive relationship similar to marriage for at least 12 months with the intention to continue sharing a household indefinitely, he said.”

You can read below on who the contracts are with for coverage and most notably we have both United and Aetna participating who have pulled out of the individual insurance policy business in several states, California being most notable for both. 

UnitedHealthcare Expands Their Cheap Hearings Aids Subsidiary With Marketing To Add More Profits To the Corporate Bottom Line and Sell More Devices And Policies –Subsidiary Watch

It was not too long ago that Wal-Mart speculated on being their own insurance exchange.

Everybody Wants to be Health Insurance Exchange, Wal-Mart Considering the Idea for Small Companies And Oracle Can Sell You a Software Exchange Platform

In addition Wal-Mart has a surgical procedure unit that has contract directly with major Medical Centers for certain types of procedures.

Walmart Becomes the Next Employer to Negotiate Surgical Procedures Direct With Major Medical Centers, Just Need More Employees Covered

In addition United has the “cheap hearing aides” subsidiary, HiHealthInnovations where they also plan to sell the cheap hearing aide in retail stores and of course the computer test is free for doctors at no charge but Walgreens, Wal-Mart and other majors were mentioned as targets and one would expect some action in this area possibly.  If you haven not figured it out yet with insurers, subsidiaries is where all the action takes place today as there’s a lot more to the insurers than just claims and policies.

United HealthCare Gets In the Medical Device Business–Distributing Cheap Hearing Aides Sold Via Hi HealthInnovations Division –Subsidiary Watch

As the Reuters article states here the most popular Wal-Mart plan is the one with the least cost and should run about $18.40 every two weeks for the employee contributions, so the big thing here is to be full time or be an part timer for over a year with 30 or more hours a week worked.  Some who work there can buy the insurance but can’t afford it.  BD


The world's largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, also plans to begin to offer vision care to its eligible employees and their dependents, according to information the retailer sent to workers this week.

Wal-Mart is the single biggest U.S. employer outside of the federal government. More than half of its 1.3 million U.S. employees are on its health-care plans. The company said it does not know how many workers would use either of the new benefits.

Employees' domestic partners can be covered if they are legal spouses, not legally separated; or a domestic partner of same or opposite gender in an ongoing, exclusive relationship similar to marriage for at least 12 months with the intention to continue sharing a household indefinitely, he said.

About 1.1 million people, including workers' family members, are currently covered by Wal-Mart health-care plans in the United States. Not all of the company's U.S. employees sign up for coverage. Part-time employees must work for Wal-Mart for one year and work an average of 30 hours a week to qualify.  Wal-Mart's U.S. employees are set to pay 3 percent to 10 percent more for their medical coverage next year, depending on the plan chosen.

Wal-Mart's benefits administrators are Aetna Inc, UnitedHealth Group Inc's UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield, depending on the location of a particular worker.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/08/27/us-walmart-benefits-idINBRE97Q0QL20130827?feedType=RSS&feedName=health&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=309303

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