Walmart plans to staff 2,700 of its stores with insurance agents to help customers sign up for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
...Now, [Walmart] has no plans to be an insurer. Furthermore, its partner DirectHealth also has no aims to underwrite policies itself. Instead, DirectHealth.com is a portal that “offers access to more than 1,700 plans from 12 leading carriers” that include Aetna (AET) Cigna (CI), Humana (HUM) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH), among others. ...
In other words, WMT stock holders will enjoy a referral bonus...
This sounds great for their shoppers who may need this help - but I can't stop thinking about the Walmart employees who don't get the hours in order receive a proper wage and benefits.
From Politifact:
...So, Wal-Mart is not family owned, but rather owned by its stockholders; on the other hand, according to Bloomberg and other news reports, the Walton family members still have control of the company, owning about half of the shares. ... in 2010, the wealth of six Walton family heirs was $89.5 billion, 22 percent higher than in 2007. Meanwhile, the median wealth of American families in 2010 was $77,300, nearly 39 percent lower than three years earlier. ... the wealth of six of Sam Walton’s descendants has continued to grow. Here are their rankings and their wealth:
No. 6 Christy Walton (daughter-in-law), $35.4 billion
No. 7: Jim Walton (son), $33.8 billion
No. 8: Alice Walton (daughter), $33.5 billion
No. 9: S. Robson Walton (son), $33.3 billion
No. 95: Ann Walton Kroenke (niece), $4.7 billion
No. 110: Nancy Walton Laurie (niece), $4 billion
Total Walton family wealth: $144.7 billion. ...
Do you think that the Walton family, who still control Walmart, could help their employees?