Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Whole Food's Decision To Cut Health Care For Part-Time Workers Could Leave Nearly 2,000 Employees Without Coverage
The Associated Press: Whole Foods To Cut Health Care For Part-Time Workers
Whole Foods, the grocery chain owned by Amazon, is cutting health care benefits for its part-time workers, a move that could leave about 1,900 of its employees without medical coverage. Starting next year, Whole Foods employees have to work at least 30 hours a week to qualify for its health care benefits, up from the 20 hours a week it currently requires. (9/13)
USA Today: Amazon's Whole Foods To Cut Health Benefits For Part-Time Workers
In 2017, Amazon closed its acquisition of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in what was considered a game-changing deal in the grocery business. Since then, the chain has introduced several price cuts on items in an effort to shed its reputation as being less affordable compared with other grocery retailers. (Molina, 9/14)
In other news on health care costs —
The Washington Post: Medical Debt Is Soaring But Author Says It Can Be Fixed
For many Americans, questions about the cost of health care in the United States start when they open their mail to see an unexpected bill or pick up their phone to answer a call from a medical debt collector. Medical debt is all too common: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1 in 5 working-age Americans with health insurance has had problems paying medical bills within the past year, and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau finds that nearly 1 in 5 credit reports include medical collections. (Blakemore, 9/14)
Kaiser Health News: Air Ambulances Woo Rural Consumers With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging
On a hot June day as the Good Ol’ Days festival was in full swing, 7-year-old Kaidence Anderson sat in the shade with her family, waiting for a medevac helicopter to land. A crowd had gathered to see the display prearranged by staff at the town’s historic fort. “It’s going to show us how it’s going to help other people because we don’t have the hospital anymore,” the redheaded girl explained. (Tribble, 9/16)
