Wal-Mart confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday that the company plans to cover more than 250 prescription drugs for its employees for free starting from 2027, including some insulins, inhalants, and GLP-1 medications used for diabetes treatment.
This retailer is also expanding existing benefits and adding new welfare programs to attract and retain employees. Currently, many other employers are offsetting rising healthcare costs by raising prices and cutting planned benefits. This announcement comes just a few weeks before the deadline for Walmart employees to sign up, which is November 6th.
As the largest private sector employer in the United States, Walmart will provide type 2 diabetes patients with Novo Nordisk's diabetes injection medication Ozempic and Eli Lilly's competing product Mounjaro for free under the new pre-authorization requirements.
However, Walmart still does not reimburse for the GLP-1 medications used by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for weight loss purposes. Other large employers also generally do not cover such medications for obesity treatment, or have recently discontinued related reimbursements in order to reduce medical costs.
The latest benefits adjustments are part of Walmart's multi-year efforts to improve employee compensation. Previously, the company has been criticized for the medical benefits and wage levels it offered. As of the end of the 2026 fiscal year, Walmart has approximately 2.1 million employees worldwide, of which about 1.6 million are located in the United States.
In the statement, the company indicated that it is making every effort to minimize the increase in employee premiums, raising the initial planned rate by $1.50 per pay cycle to $39.80. Walmart told CNBC that this increase is less than what the company implemented last year.
According to a letter sent by Walmart's Chief Human Resources Officer Donna Morris to employees on Tuesday, the company will also expand an existing benefit: this benefit will cover the costs for employees to see cancer specialists at Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic. Starting next year, most employees under the plan will also be able to use this benefit to seek a second opinion from specialists for rare diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease.
The letter states that the additional benefits also include providing 12 weeks of paternity leave to accompany newborns in the intensive care unit, which can be added on top of regular parental leave and maternity leave.
In a statement provided to CNBC, Walmart stated: 'The measures we are taking are based on years of planning and experimentation with new approaches, which allow us to bring meaningful improvements to our employees without reducing benefits or significantly increasing premiums.'
