More workers insured, says Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart said on Tuesday that the number of uninsured associates decreased by more than 20 %, compared to one year ago.

Linda Dillman, executive vice president of benefits and risk management for Wal-Mart, said this was due, in part, to changes to the company’s benefits package.

According to data collected in an internal survey the percentage of associates who reported having no coverage declined from 9.6 % to 7.3 %.

The retailer, which has been the target of union-led criticism over its healthcare benefits package, said more than 1.1m people were now covered by its plans.

“While the number of uninsured Wal-Mart associates is less than half of the national average, it is still too high. Our goal is to have every eligible associate select health care coverage.

Linda Dillman, executive vice president of benefits and risk management

The world’s largest retailer has around 1.3m employees in the U.S.

Dillman commented: "While the number of uninsured Wal-Mart associates is less than half of the national average, it is still too high. Our goal is to have every eligible associate select health care coverage."

The survey indicated that 50.2% of Wal-Mart's employees have coverage through its plan.

In a conference call following the announcement Dillman said more personalised choices, a co-pay for generic prescriptions and online access to materials where key reasons why people signed on.