Mon 5 Dec 2016 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The world's largest retailer and biggest employer has relented by paying out on health insurance benefits denied to the same-sex employees of its American staff. Diana Smithson and Jacqueline Cote In the USA private health insurance is vital but usually only affordable if included in employment packages where staff are grouped together in schemes organised by their employers for better deals. Between 2016 and 2012 a lesbian employee of Walmart, Jacqueline Cote, had her application for spousal health benefits, available to heterosexual employees, rejected for her wife. In 2014 the company amended its policy to include same-sex partners but by that stage the couple had run up approximately US$100,000 in medical bills due to Diana Smithson’s ovarian cancer. Wallmart has now agreed to cover the health expenses the couple incurred, and also expenses incurred by other same sex couples, between January 2013 and December 2014.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 5th December 2016 - 12:36pm