The retail giant is quickly expanding its health centers and offering virtual care to its employees.
By Daniel Beaird
December 2023- The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
With its stated goal of becoming America’s neighborhood health destination, Walmart Health opened its first center, a 10,000-square-foot facility in Dallas, Ga., in 2019. The large retailer acquired a telehealth provider in 2021 called MeMD and inked a 10-year deal with UnitedHealth Group in 2022 that aims to drive value-based care adoption for Walmart’s clinicians and launch a new Medicare Advantage plan. By the end of 2022, it had 32 Walmart Health locations.
As competitors Amazon, CVS Health and Walgreens began to acquire physician offices, Walmart Health announced a deepening presence in Florida and Texas, and expansion into new states Missouri and Arizona. By the end of 2024, it will have almost 80 Walmart Health centers in seven states. Additionally, Bloomberg reported in September that Walmart is in preliminary talks to acquire ChenMed, a primary care provider for seniors. The deal would be worth billions of dollars.
ChenMed is a prized asset
ChenMed operates over 100 centers across 15 states primarily in the Southeast and in regions where Walmart already operates health facilities. It recently tapped UnitedHealthcare veteran and former CEO Steve Nelson as its president to lead its day-to-day management and operations. According to Rebecca Springer, lead healthcare analyst for PitchBook, ChenMed is the last scaled, multistate Medicare Advantage provider group that has not sold to a major retailer other than Cano Health, which has fallen into financial trouble.
A steadfast culture is considered to be one of ChenMed’s biggest strengths. It’s a privately owned medical and technology company delivering high-touch and personalized primary care for Medicare-eligible seniors. It’s been named a Fortune “Change the World” company and twice named a “Most Loved Workplace” by Newsweek. Its concierge-style medicine aims to bring better health outcomes to the neediest populations.
ChenMed recently implemented a program to provide each of its patients with access to the services of a coordinated team. This coincides with the federal government’s unwinding of the Public Health Emergency it established during the Covid-19 pandemic. ChenMed’s patients are generally 65 and older and many live in underserved areas. Its care teams will ensure those who are eligible for Medicaid successfully re-enroll within their particular state’s deadline and retain a variety of vital resources to support their health and wellness needs.
A deal for ChenMed would be Walmart’s biggest move yet in healthcare. But ChenMed is a prized asset and other potential bidders could emerge, according to Springer, including Optum or a private equity consortium.
Virtual care expands to Walmart’s employees
Walmart has announced virtual primary care options for its employees nationwide after a successful rollout in select states, including a $0 copayment for virtual care visits. As Walmart’s customers began to adapt to a new normal during the Covid-19 pandemic, so did its employees. Walmart partnered with Included Health for virtual care collaboration that has produced good results for employees with diabetes, for example, who saw a 24% reduction on average in HbA1c levels.
Included Health CEO Owen Tripp told the HLTH23 conference in October that the pilot’s results, which included people with hypertension seeing blood pressure reduced by 14% and total cost of care decreased by 11%, dispel the myths about virtual care that make employers hesitant. He said they found that 33% of those who used the services were over the age of 45. They also saw success in connecting to patients with chronic needs as about 30% of people were seen for either chronic condition management or preventive care.
Expanding access in key markets
In November, Walmart Health announced it is entering into a relationship with Ambetter from Sunshine Health, which provides insurance to individuals through the Florida health insurance marketplace, and with Orlando Health, a private, not-for-profit network of community and specialty hospitals across Florida, through Care Coordination Agreements.
Ambetter from Sunshine Health now includes Walmart Health Centers as a preferred provider in Clay, Duval,
Hillsborough, Orange, Osceola, Pasco and Seminole counties in Florida through the Ambetter Value Plan. “The relationship, which is built on a shared vision to help Americans gain access to affordable health care options, will initially focus on patient engagement through care coordination and referral management,” the company said.
This collaboration marks an expansion of the existing relationship between Walmart Health and Ambetter Health, the largest and longest-running carrier on the health insurance marketplace and one of the leading health care programs provided by Centene Corporation. The relationship started earlier this year as the companies collaborated to enhance awareness of Medicaid redetermination efforts and expand access to marketplace health insurance within Walmart Health centers.
“We continue to look for ways to make health care even more accessible to the communities we serve,” said Richard Fuchs, senior vice president, sales, strategy and innovation at Walmart. “Both Walmart Health and Ambetter Health share a focus on serving local communities, and this collaboration will enable more Floridians to access care. We’re excited to offer Ambetter from Sunshine Health members quality care in one location, conveniently located adjacent to Walmart Supercenters where many members already shop for groceries and everyday essentials.”