Walmart jumps into health insurance game with DirectHealth partnership

Retail behemoth Walmart is getting in on the health insurance game, jumping even further into […]

Retail behemoth Walmart is getting in on the health insurance game, jumping even further into the healthcare world and capitalizing on its massive customer base.

Already, Walmart has made inroads into primary care with clinics at certain locations, offering a basic set of services like treating allergies, blood pressure checks and common vaccinations.

Now, the Arkansas-based retailer has teamed up with DirectHealth.com to launch what it’s calling Healthcare Begins Here – “an in-store program designed to educate customers on health insurance options.”

The company will house some 2,700 insurance agents across its 4,300 U.S. locations through open enrollment season, the company said in a release, who will help customers determine if they are eligible through exchanges, Medicaid or Medicare options.

The retailer will not get a cut from any plans purchased, but the hope is that customers can then use the plan to obtain prescriptions in the stores, along with other basic healthcare needs.

Walmart’s entrance to the healthcare marketplace isn’t that surprising, with retail pharmacies like CVS Health and Walgreens similarly offering further services in retail locations. Big box healthcare will likely only increase, and it’s not hard to figure out why – sheer convenience and an audience that comes to you.

And the retail giant isn’t being coy about its intentions:

“Our goal is to be the number one health-care provider in the industry,”  Labeeb Diab, president of health and wellness for WalMart, told the Washington Post. “And the more we broaden our assortment, the more we broaden our offering, the more we educate the customer Walmart is a great place to create a one-stop shop.”

Walmart said DirectHealth will offer access to more than 1,700 plans for customers over the age of 65, from carriers including Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and certain Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies.

For non-Medicare customers, it will offers access to “thousands of health exchange plans from more than 300 carriers.”

Walmart has hosted insurance agents in some stores since 2005. The effort with DirectHealth.com expands that nationally.

DirectHealth.com is owned by Tranzutary Insurance Solutions, a subsidiary of Tranzact, based in New Jersey, that aslo owns Autoinsurance.com.

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