“The insurance benefit will apply to employees who have at least one year of service with Apple,” ifoAppleStore reports. “The change in coverage is significant, since American businesses have traditionally offered medical and other benefits only to full-time employees, and sometimes reduced benefits to those who work at least 20-hours a week.
ifoAppleStore reports, “Apple has 16,500 full-time equivalent retail store employees, according to the company’s latest financial filing. It’s estimated the staff is composed of about 9,900 part-time employees who will be affected by the insurance change. Based on the average cost of medical insurance policies purchased by employers, the annual cost of extending medical benefits to part-time store employees could be at least $80 million a year.”
“The sources say Apple now pays up to 65 percent of an employee’s health care insurance, with the employee paying the remainder. That pay-out will reportedly also apply to the part-time employees insurance coverage. That figure compares to an nationwide average of 73 percent, according to the 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation’s Employer Benefits Survey,” ifoAppleStore reports.
Full article here.
That’s not all that’s coming in 2010: 2nd Reagan Revolution!
54% Favor Middle Class Tax Cuts Over New Health Care Spending:
http://tinyurl.com/do-nothing-obama-failing
Voters Trust Republicans More On All 10 Top Issues:
http://tinyurl.com/lnahxa
Thanks, Barry, you neophyte!
“…Voters Trust Republicans More On 10 Top Issues:…”
Well, not in the last election they didn’t. And of course, the next election hasn’t happened yet. This is more GOP talking-points hype that has nothing to do this Web site.
Those retail employees poached by Microsoft will be kicking themselves once they learn about this.
P.S. …so MDN can delete comments from “suspected astroturfers”, but allows completely off-topic political posts to stand? Are you trying to emulate the consistency of App Store rejections?
This could actually backfire. My company health insurance charges me more if my spouse is “eligible” for insurance and doesn’t take it.
Well done, Apple.
@Gabriel, you’re probably right. I know I would be if I were them.
I hope Lisa Seigneur and her ilk enjoy their time peddling Zunes.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/26/microsoft-borrows-apple-store-blueprint-manager/
Another sign of Apple’s organizational excellence.
Good move, Apple. As a physician, I truly hope that more employers follow Apple (and Walmart’s) lead, and take more control of the insurance issue in this country. Things like negotiating with the big insurers, pooling resources, including options for MSA’s with employer contribution, etc, will not only put pressure on insurance companies to compete, but will potentially take the money out of the hands of the insurers (and the government) and put it into the pockets of the people, and would thus allow them to make their own decisions about medical care. And this would cost nothing more than what we’re paying right now. But further legislation is needed to bring costs down, no doubt.
HD Boy,
Look again. The poll info is from from Rassmussen which has an excellent track record of accuracy.
Just wait for a little.
The big “O” is going to give health care to everyone for free. Just ask the proletariate.
Ho! Apples cares for workers? Damn! Some people will come out pretending Apple is communist!
PS What is this crazy bigot extremist Sarah Palin doing on this website? A shame for human consciousness!
This one time, before I opened my eyes and learned that a big federal government is a hindrance to freedom and stifles innovation, I actually supported the government-forced break-up of Microsoft several years back to benefit Apple.
And this other time, before I took the advice of people who knew him to heart, I actually supported Obama. ‘Course, with McCain as the other choice, that wasn’t too difficult.
And then I studied and learned that it WAS the government that directly and indirectly created the economic problems we have today. And I watched how Apple continued to innovate and ‘skate to where the puck is going to be’ and saw how they are continuing to best Microsoft all by themselves. Using the marketplace.
So now, this time, I fight against big government AND Obama. And anyone who thinks such self-serving twaddle.
“That’s not all that’s coming in 2010: 2nd Reagan Revolution!”
Hate to ruin your day, But Reagan is DEAD, get over it.
Love it. Give your employees insurance, but the welfare queens who think they can suck our nation’s financial dry like the tick Democrat spendthrift junkies have another thing coming.
Suck off someone else’s welfare. Go beg in that shithole San Francisco
1. Most part-time Apple Store employees don’t stay with the company longer than a year, so won’t quaify.
2. The typical part-time Apple Store employee makes $10 an hour. Having to pay out for even 35% of the insurance premium when you work 20 hours a week isn’t really possible.
This is more PR than practical policy. It’s a nice gesture, but of little use to the bulk of the uninsured employed by Apple Retail.
@scott, it may be true that at $10/hour, a 20 hour/week employee is going to have a hard time paying their share of the insurance bill; however, many part time employees are part time so they have time to pursue other gigs. If those other gigs pay, then they can probably afford to buy insurance given the availability through Apple.
What’s remarkable is that people who are trying to be responsible – make insurance available to their employees, or buy insurance for themselves – are being crapped on here by people who lack a brain and / or a heart.
If they offer High deductible with HSA account version only its still better than nothing. Low cost for the employee and if Apple contributes the 50% of annual like most companies offering insurance of this kind. Its huge.
Great that Apple is expanding health insurance to part-timers. But 35% employee contribution for the premium is pretty darn high! At our company, employees pay 20%. I thought that was the traditional proportion, no?
Agree w/Lokiz that HSAs are great–our company offers those and all those young workers that typically turn down insurance love it because they can stash away savings that accumulate year-to-year. In our case, though, the company puts in 100% of the deductible in the HSA, and employees can add more to that if they wish to save–pretty sweet!
@ ron
The broken-record, juvenile “ron” continues unabated. No matter what the thread’s subject matter, if ron can make an anti-Obama comment, he will.
As a person sitting in the middle of the political spectrum, it never ceases to amaze me that on a computer tech-oriented website like MDN, posters like ron (and others on the left and right fringe) will jump at any opportunity to make childish, off-topic remarks. Are their lives so empty that spewing their partisan baloney on a website makes them feel good about themselves, or feel important?
Ok ron, you can now crawl back under your rock….
It’s predictable that every jackass who’s never had an original thought would jump on this as an opportunity to parrot their favorite radio hero. People who’ve had major medical crises understand that there are times when it’s right to put human welfare ahead of profits. I think SJ is probably in that group these days. Way to go, Steve!
It’s easy for the average mouth breather to point to all the “freeloaders” and pretend outrage, as if he, she, or it actually paid any significant amount of taxes. It would be comical if it weren’t so tragic.
Zeke,
American workers paid every cent they earned from Jan. 1 – April 13 to the government, so I’ll politely ask that you go fsck yourself as I work and pay far more than I should be paying to live in what’s become a cesspool of a country with dirty illegal aliens and welfare obamamas on every street corner waiting with their hands out for their “free” government health insurance and other goodies.
We start taking back the country in 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Freedom_Day
$80 Million is nothing to Apple nowadays. It would be interesting to find out how long the average part-time employee works for Apple. The chick that sold me my iPhones this year was definitely around for the previous launch. She was a college student and may or may not have health insurance with college or family.
Even if Apple paid $500 a month to all 16500 PT employees that would still only be $100 M.
@Overburdened American Tax Payer
You just need to learn to love our great President Obama because he’s going to be around for another 7+ years
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@ Overburdened American Tax Payer
Stop screaming, you’ll hurt your throat!