Walmart expands role in health care with in-store one-stop insurance shopping

Bentonville, Ark. – Walmart is expanding its role in health care. The retail giant is teaming up with DirectHealth.com, an online health insurance comparison site and agency, to set up counters in its stores where shoppers can speak with licensed agents about available health insurance options. Walmart’s expanding role in health care comes as drug store chains, including Walgreens and CVS, continue to beef up their own healthcare services.



The new program, called Healthcare Begins Here, will closely align with the Medicare open-enrollment period and the open enrollment period for federal health insurance exchanges. Walmart plans to keep tabs on the program with an eye to potentially offering it again next year. DirectHealth.com will have agents in 2,700 Walmart stores to help answer customers' questions about plans and enroll them either online or by phone.



In announcing the program, Walmart cited research from the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows 60% of people have difficulty understanding their health insurance options and nearly 40% believe they picked the wrong plan after enrollment.



“For years, our customers have told us that there is too much complexity when it comes to understanding their health insurance options,” said Labeed Diab, senior VP and president, Health & Wellness, Walmart U.S. “Healthcare Begins Here addresses that complexity by bringing clarity and increased choice to the insurance enrollment process through DirectHealth.com.”



Walmart will not receive commissions on health coverage sales and hopes to benefit partly by luring customers into stores, the Associated Press reported, and DirectHealth is absorbing most of the program operating costs.



Walmart plans to launch a TV, radio and in-store promotions to support the new initiative this month.



DirectHealth will help customers who are age 65 and older weigh 1,700 Medicare supplement plans from 12 leading carriers. Open enrollment for those plans runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7.



Those under age 65 will have access to thousands of health exchange plans from more than 300 companies. The open enrollment period for those customers takes place from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15.



Walmart first began hosting agents from individual insurers in its stores in 2005. The new initiative, however, greatly expands on that, with independent agents on hand to help guide customers through the maze of plans now being offered by hundreds of carriers.