Walmart, UnitedHealth to offer preventive healthcare program for seniors

Walmart and healthcare elephantine UnitedHealth Group are readying to squad up to supply preventive attraction for radical aged 65 and up, and virtual healthcare services for each property groups, the companies said connected Wednesday.

The 10-year concern represents Walmart's latest propulsion into wellness attraction and could assistance the retail elephantine amended vie with CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Walgreens past October invested $5.2 cardinal successful primary-care supplier VillageMD, which has much than 200 locations crossed 15 markets.

Walmart's effort with UnitedHealth volition people communal ailments among aging Americans specified arsenic bosom illness and diabetes.

When it gets nether mode successful January, the collaboration is expected to initially connection seniors healthcare astatine 15 Walmart Health locations successful Georgia and Florida. The absorption volition beryllium connected value-based healthcare, a exemplary successful which hospitals and doctors' offices are reimbursed for the attraction they supply done aggregate Medicare Advantage plans.

Medicare Advantage is simply a Medicare-approved program from a backstage institution and is an alternate to archetypal Medicare, the national government's wellness security program for seniors.

The collaboration volition initially exclude sum for members nether the archetypal Medicare.

Unlike accepted fee-for-service models, successful which wellness insurers wage doctors a interest for each work provided, value-based health-care payments are tied to a patient's result and health. The exemplary typically provides preventive measures including dietary guides, crab screenings and predominant doc visits.

"We expect that done this partnership, we would turn to service hundreds of thousands of seniors," Dan Schumacher, UnitedHealth Group main strategy and maturation officer, said.

"Our extremity is to marque (healthcare) accessible and support it affordable utilizing these solutions, peculiarly successful these medically underserved communities," Dr. Cheryl Pegus, enforcement vice president of Health and Wellness astatine Walmart, said.

Walmart already provides physicians, community-health workers, behavioral-health therapists and caregiver practitioners to assistance service seniors who are "already going to bargain different products" astatine Walmart's wellness facilities, she said.

Walmart's healthcare unit volition beryllium capable to usage Optum, a wellness services institution owned by UnitedHealth Group, which gives providers information analytics connected patients. The collaboration besides includes the expected motorboat of a Walmart and UnitedHealth Group co-branded Medicare Advantage program successful Georgia.

Walmart and UnitedHealth Group had partnered successful January to supply free, at-home Covid-19 tests.