--- description: Ironies abound title: Why Walmart Workers Losing Healthcare Might Not Be Bad image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319d82f53671a02a/69869f7035ba6fce8ec03688/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Walmart](/tag/walmart/) ## Walmart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Walmart Workers Losing Healthcare Might Not Be Bad  by [Rana Foroohar](/author/rana-foroohar/)  ## Rana Foroohar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 10, 2014 2:58 PM CUT  Getty Images  by [Rana Foroohar](/author/rana-foroohar/)  ## Rana Foroohar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 10, 2014 2:58 PM CUT Talk about irony. In the same week that Walmart announced employees who work less than 30 hours will be losing their health care coverage, the company also announced that it’d be getting deeper into the business of selling insurance, making it easier for customers to price shop for insurance in stores. In some ways, this mirrors Walmart’s overall business model—keep prices down for consumers, but keep wages and benefits for employees low too. Ironically, under the rules of Obamacare, it’s possible that those part time employees will get a better deal on health care exchanges, thanks to subsidies that help lower income [workers buy insurance](http://www.vox.com/2014/10/7/6939057/walmart-drops-insurance-good-news "undefined"). It’s all part of the new landscape created by the Affordable Care Act. As Obamacare turns one year old, Joe Nocera and I discussed how it’s changed healthcare, business, and the economy, on WNYC’s Money Talking. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3490118/walmart-healthcare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3490118/walmart-healthcare/"},"headline":"Why Walmart Workers Losing Healthcare Might Not Be Bad","datePublished":"2014-10-10T14:58:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:42:45.457Z","description":"Ironies abound","url":"https://time.com/3490118/walmart-healthcare/","keywords":["Walmart","Obamacare","Economics","Healthcare","Insurance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319d82f53671a02a/69869f7035ba6fce8ec03688/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rana Foroohar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rana-foroohar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319d82f53671a02a/69869f7035ba6fce8ec03688/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"walmart","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/walmart/","name":"Walmart"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3490118/walmart-healthcare/","name":"Why Walmart Workers Losing Healthcare Might Not Be Bad"}}]}] ```