UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) and retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) are joining forces to deliver comprehensive value-based care with the goal of propelling positive health outcomes for seniors.
“UnitedHealth Group and Walmart share a deep commitment to high-quality and affordable primary care led services that address all of a patient’s health needs in ways that are convenient for them and improve health outcomes,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said in a press statement.
The partnership between UnitedHealth Group and Walmart is the beginning of an initial 10-year, “wide-ranging” collaboration between the two organizations.
Initially, services will be offered at 15 Walmart Health locations in Florida and Georgia starting next year, with plans to expand into new geographies over time. The partnership will include a co-branded Medicare Advantage plan in Georgia.
Ultimately, the goal of the partnership is to serve thousands of seniors and Medicare beneficiaries in value-based arrangements through multiple Medicare Advantage plans.
In order to pull this off, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum will provide analytics and decision support tools that will aid Walmart Health clinicians. These capabilities are meant to accelerate the Walmart Health centers collaborative, team-based delivery model while fueling the move to value-based care.
“We’re on a journey to transform health care, connecting more people to the right care at the right time — at a cost that makes sense,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement. “This collaboration puts the patient at the center of health care by leveraging the strength and complementary skill sets of our two companies to accelerate access to quality care.”
Another element to the partnership: Walmart Health Virtual Care will be in-network for commercial members in UnitedHealthcare’s Choice Plus PPO plan.
This partnership further positions Walmart in the same space as its fellow large retail entities like Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA), CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), which have also taken steps to deliver more community-based health care to seniors.
Still, it wouldn’t be the first time for Walmart. The company partnered with Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) to expand home health care access nationwide in 2019.
On its end, UnitedHealth Group announced that it would acquire Lafayette, Louisiana-based LHC Group Inc. (Nasdaq: LHCG) for the price tag of $5.4 billion back in March. The deal is valued at closer to $6 billion including debt.
If that deal is finalized, this is a foot in the door for LHC Group – a home health, hospice, and home- and community-based services company –- to have access to Walmart’s huge consumer base. It could potentially be a billboard for all of LHC Group’s services across the country.
As for Walmart’s partnership with UnitedHealth Group, both organizations want to eventually expand the partnership and serve beneficiaries across commercial and Medicaid plans. This would also include addressing social determinants of health by facilitating access to fresh food, over-the-counter and prescription medications, and dental and vision services.
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