?Walmart has announced that it will broaden its abortion coverage and travel benefits for abortion services. Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer with about 1.6 million U.S. employees. It is headquartered in Arkansas, where strict abortion limits have taken effect recently.
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Help for Abortion, Infertility and Adoption
Walmart’s health plans will cover abortion when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability. Employees and their family members who are insured through Walmart also will have their travel costs covered, if they cannot access a legal abortion within 100 miles of their location. The retailer is launching a center for fertility services, such as in vitro fertilization, and increasing its financial support for adoptions from $5,000 to $20,000.
(CNBC)
Expansion of Benefit
Previously, Walmart’s health plan covered abortion only in cases when the health of the mother would be in danger if the fetus were carried to term, the fetus could not survive the birthing process or death would be imminent after birth. The revised policy includes the travel benefit. Other companies, including Meta, American Express and Bank of America, have said they will cover travel costs for their employees who seek abortions in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
More Companies Announce Benefit
Likewise, a host of other companies—including JPMorgan Chase, Amazon and Walt Disney Co.—have expanded their insurance policies to offer travel benefits to U.S. employees who seek out-of-state abortion services.
(Reuters)
Not Widely Offered
It’s unclear how widespread the expansion of abortion-related benefits will be. In an early June survey of more than 1,000 HR professionals by the SHRM Research Institute, only 5 percent of respondents said their organizations planned to provide travel expense benefits—such as paying for gasoline, airfare and hotel rooms—outside of a health savings account for employees to access abortion and reproductive services that are not accessible in their state of residence.
Monitor Changes in the States
Any abortion coverage will need to comply with state and federal laws. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June gave states permission to ban abortion, the details of various state constitutions will be important in guiding what actions come next in state legislatures and courts. Employers need to understand the constitutional protections of the states they operate in, which can get tricky when state laws contradict each other.