In ‘Early Innings’ of Major Retail Collabs, UnitedHealth-Walmart Make Medicare Play

 

by Lauren Flynn Kelly   With a focus on Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, UnitedHealth Group and Walmart Inc. have struck a 10-year “wide-ranging collaboration” with value-based care elements that could ultimately extend into Medicaid and commercial plans. In addition to launching a co-branded MA plan, the partnership will connect Walmart Health clinicians with Optum’s analytics and decision support tools for value-based care delivery, and it represents the latest example of a major retailer seeking out a partner to grow its health care business.     UnitedHealth has an established relationship with Walmart  This is not UnitedHealth’s first partnering with Walmart, but it is their first co-branded product offering. UnitedHealth last year enlisted Rite Aid Corp. and Walmart in a COVID-19 testing strategy that allows enrollees to obtain rapid tests directly without having to pay anything up front.  The co-branded MA plan, dubbed UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Walmart Flex (HMO-POS), will be available only in parts of Georgia for 2023. The partnership also features the deployment of UnitedHealth subsidiary Optum, which will provide analytics and decision support tools to facilitate value-based care arrangements in 15 Walmart Health clinics in Florida and Georgia. “From a patient perspective, that generally means more support from the care team, more comprehensive, coordinated care and more time with the physician,” a UnitedHealth spokesperson tells AIS Health.  “Eventually, the collaboration aims to serve even more people, including those across commercial and Medicaid plans, by providing access to fresh food and enhancing current initiatives to address social determinants of health, over-the-counter and prescription medications, and dental and vision services,” adds a spokesperson for Walmart.  Walmart takes slow and steady approach to health care  Walmart Health was established in 2019 and features an array of services including primary and urgent care, labs, X-ray and diagnostics. There are currently 27 Walmart Health locations in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Illinois, although the company had originally planned to have at least 35 clinics by the end of 2021, according to analysts.  “Prior to this partnership’s announcement, we note [Walmart’s] push into healthcare had somewhat slowed compared to expectations from its initial inception back in 2019 when WMT suggested a ~$3B net investment and a rollout strategy of ~4,000 clinics by 2029,” wrote Citi Research analyst Jason Cassorla on Sept. 8. Nevertheless, that “relatively slow rollout” and experimental approach “should be considered in context of the continuously evolving consumer-centric healthcare backdrop,” he pointed out.  “That said, we would not be dismissive of this partnership’s efforts, and believe this development/partnership is worth watching given the sheer size/breadth of both [Walmart and UnitedHealth] that have a retail footprint and a membership base that when factored together encompass a substantial portion of the U.S. population, which in totality is looking for greater access and more affordable options to receive care,” he added.

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