Walmart expands telehealth options for employees
Walmart is providing workers with access to a broader range of health care services — virtually.
The discount giant, which began piloting employee telehealth services as part of its medical plan in January 2020 in an effort to provide easier and better care for its workers while also reducing its own costs, is now moving beyond its traditional employee telehealth service for occasional sick visits
Starting the week of Oct. 10, Walmart is expanding virtual primary care to allow employees and their families the option to develop long-standing relationships with doctors across the country. Walmart is partnering with virtual care platform Included Health to deliver these services.
As part of this expansion, virtual care options for digestive health and physical therapy will also be available, including some basic at-home lab work early in 2024.
Most virtual health care benefits Walmart offers employees are available at no cost to associates and their families ($0 co-pay). Associates and their covered dependents must be enrolled in a Walmart self-insured medical plan.
Walmart expanded its initial employee virtual care pilot to 16 states, then again to 21 states in 2023. Other virtual healthcare services the retailer has added include the 2021 rollout of no-cost virtual counseling, free well-being webinars, access to a free sleep, meditation and gratitude app, and 24/7 peer support chats.
“We’re meeting people where they are and removing barriers of time, travel and cost at the same time,” said Lisa Woods, VP of well-being, Walmart, in a corporate blog post. “At the end of the day, we’re offering affordable, accessible health care for our associates and their families, which ties back to our mission at Walmart: helping people save money so they can live better.
“Over the past three and a half years, Walmart has tested and validated the role of virtual care beyond simple sick needs,” said Owen Tripp, CEO of Included Health. “Against national primary care shortages, rural health care deserts, and persistent price growth, Walmart has continued to move health care forward.”
The following states are included in Walmart’s virtual employee healthcare expansion: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. Walmart already offers the benefit in all other states, except Hawaii.
Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries.