Walmart Offers Free Heart and Spinal Surgery to Workers

It will be a new year come January and with it Walmart workers will have access to free heart and spine surgeries and transplants at six major medical centers around the U.S. The program announced yesterday is part of an effort by the retailer to improve medical coverage for its employees while reducing expenses for the company.

Walmart will cover workers and dependents enrolled in its medical plans and will include payouts for travel, lodging and food for both the patient and caregiver.

The health centers working with Walmart to bundle services include the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio; Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania; the Mayo Clinic with facilities in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota; Mercy Hospital Springfield in Missouri; Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Texas and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Washington.

"We devoted extensive time developing Centers of Excellence in order to improve the quality of care our associates’ receive," said Sally Welborn, senior vice president of global benefits at Walmart, in a statement. "We have identified six renowned health care systems that meet the highest quality standards for heart, spine and transplant surgery. Through these hospital systems, our associates will have no out-of-pocket expenses and a greater peace of mind knowing they are receiving exceptional care from a facility that specializes in the procedure they require. This is the first time a retailer has offered a comprehensive, nationwide program for heart, spine and transplant surgery."

Walmart’s deal with the various health organizations bundles services in an attempt to reduce costs while improving care for its workers. The company, which has been criticized in the past for its health coverage practices, expects savings from the initiative, but has not specified how much.

"It’s a growing trend and an important new aspect of employers’ ability to manage quality and improve their value proposition," Michael McMillan, executive director of market and network services at Cleveland Clinic, told Reuters. "We see more and more large employers asking about this kind of approach."

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Discussion Questions

Do you see the bundling of medical services as a positive for both employers and employees? Will other retailers follow Walmart’s example in this area?

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Max Goldberg
Max Goldberg
11 years ago

Retailers with large numbers of employees may be able to follow Walmart’s lead, but it’s probably not practical for small and mid-sized companies. This is a win-win for Walmart and its employees. WM can control costs and the employees have access to care at 6 quality hospitals.

Gene Hoffman
Gene Hoffman
11 years ago

Other retailers will follow Walmart’s lead in bundling medical services. What choice do they really have?

This is an excellent benefit for Walmart employees and because Walmart can afford to grant the benefit, it will cause their competitors to incur this and additional pressures to survive.

Aside from their altruism on this issue, Walmart’s numerous other competitive programs, particularly retail pricing, are further reducing many competitors’ capacity to compete against them. Are Walmart’s processes a monopoly in the making? If so, is that good or bad?

Diana McHenry
Diana McHenry
11 years ago

Walmart’s move seems full of positives to me. Better associate care/morale and improved healthcare/systems. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the centers in the Walmart agreement, do not compensate doctors per-procedure (as the Chicago Tribune article notes), so may find more economical, less invasive, less costly treatments.

Years ago, Walmart began selling milk without hormones and this affected positive change. Stonyfield Farms and organic food sales overall increased after Walmart began selling Stonyfield and emphasizing organics.

With Walmart helping form new models with healthcare organizations, it will be easier for smaller retailers to follow suit. Employees, customers, we all benefit.

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
11 years ago

“Walmart will cover workers and dependents enrolled in its medical plans and will include payouts for travel, lodging and food for both the patient and caregiver.”

Details…we want details! I’m torn here, between applauding what seems like a classic win-win, and — cynically? — suspecting this is more a PR strategy that something generally meaningful.

Bernice Hurst
Bernice Hurst
11 years ago

Is today April 1 or is this just a sick joke (pun intended – and deserved)?

Please pardon my naievete (and use of French in this American discussion) but are heart, spine and transplant surgeries so common amongst Walmart employees that offering them for free will inspire love, loyalty and increased productivity? As well as saving the company money? For how many employees is this actually a benefit they may need/use? It might be more employee-friendly to offer treatment at particular centers for a wider range of illnesses — any or all, perhaps? (I hesitate to mention the C-word.)

In principle, bundling sounds a great idea but specifying such limited treatments seems, to me at least, more of an empty gesture than a useful one. Or maybe I’m just missing the point….

Tom Redd
Tom Redd
11 years ago

Walmart hits it out of the park with this announcement. They tackled a thorny issue for company, employee, and health care providers. When your employees get free heart, spine, and transplant treatment at top notch medical centers and the company is able to control its medical costs, you have a win-win-win situation. This will put pressure not just on other retailers, but other employers to deliver similar programs. Can they do it without Walmart’s clout?

Warren Thayer
Warren Thayer
11 years ago

I was surprised to learn of the similar programs with Lowe’s and Boeing. Others will no doubt follow, as similar deals by other companies with hospitals begin to snowball. All good for everyone; our health system is such a disaster. Bernice raises a good point about cancer coverage. I assume that’s covered in Walmart’s plan. My insurer paid a “negotiated” rate of about $300,000 for my successful cancer treatment, and I suspect it would be much higher without insurance. Walmart rarely gets credit for the many good things it does. Glad to see a little recognition here.

Lee Kent
Lee Kent
11 years ago

Yes, bundling medical services is positive, but I would have to see the numbers in order to tell if this is truly a good thing and if others should follow suit, if they can afford it. Seems very PR to me. Hmmmm

Kai Clarke
Kai Clarke
11 years ago

Yes, it is positive, in that it is better than before. However, Walmart should have better insurance that covers these things as a standard part of their policy, rather than as an optional part, which Walmart is now covering. What was Walmart doing before? Not covering heart disease? Hmmmm….