Dive Brief:
- Walmart plans to expand its healthcare benefits in the coming months and will offer free prescriptions for more than 250 medications, including GLP-1s for workers with type 2 diabetes with a new prior authorization, the company announced Tuesday.
- The major retailer also is providing eligible workers with 12 weeks of paid neonatal intensive care unit leave, effective Nov. 17. The NICU leave can be combined with other time off and maternity and parental leaves, giving employees up to 28 weeks of paid leave if their children are admitted to a NICU within the first 28 days after birth.
- Walmart’s news comes as employers prepare for nearly double-digit health insurance price increases and many plan to shift some of those costs to workers.
Dive Insight:
Walmart, too, is increasing employees’ shares of the health insurance, with premiums rising $1.50 per pay period to $39.80 on the starting plan, the company said. However, that increase is less than last year, per the company.
“The steps we’re taking are based on years of planning and trying new things, which is allowing us to make meaningful improvements for associates without slashing benefits or significantly raising premiums,” a company spokesperson said.
As part of its benefits expansion, Walmart also will offer workers and dependents a new rare conditions center of excellence, providing free access to specialists for multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis through facilities like Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. Travel for the patient and an adult caregiver is also covered.
Over the years, Walmart has revamped the benefits and training it provides to workers in response to market demands.
In 2023, the company announced it was doubling the number of free counseling sessions it annually offers employees and their families; that news came several months after a mass shooting by a store supervisor.
That same year, Walmart said it would eliminate degree requirements for some corporate jobs as part of a broader effort to remove unnecessary barriers to career advancement.
The company in 2024 changed its Live Better U education benefit program to focus on in-demand skills to make associates more hirable for key roles. And in 2025, Walmart teamed up with OpenAI to develop an artificial intelligence certification program for U.S. front-line and office-based employees.