The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) has planned to launch an in-store program named ‘Healthcare Begins Here’ to help its shoppers understand more about health insurance options. In order to do so, Walmart has teamed up with DirectHealth.com, an online health insurance comparison site and agency, which will help the company’s customers to compare insurance coverage options and enroll in Medicare plans or the public exchange plans created under the Affordable Care Act.
The move comes after recent research showed that more than 60% of people do not understand their health insurance options properly, while nearly 40% feel dissatisfied with the health insurance plan they have enrolled into.
Walmart thus came forward with DirectHealth.com to offer access to more than 1,700 plans from 12 carriers including Aetna (AET), Cigna (CI), Humana (HUM) and UnitedHealthcare (UNH) for customers over 65, during the Medicare open enrollment period from Oct 15 through Dec 7. For customers under 65, DirectHealth.com offers access to thousands of Health Exchange plans from more than 300 carriers. The open enrollment period is from Nov 15 to Feb 15.
Walmart has long been known for innovation in health and wellness. In fact, the retailer has hosted insurance agents from individual insurers in stores since 2005 to assist customers and answer their queries related to health insurance plans. Earlier in April, Walmart teamed up with AutoInsurance.com to let shoppers quickly compare and buy auto insurance policies online.
We believe that the ‘Healthcare Begins Here’ program will support Walmart’s initiative to assist consumers with an increased number of health insurance options. It will also help the company revive its disappointing sales.
We note that the retailer has been expanding beyond food and other basics in order to revive its sluggish traffic and weak sales. Besides providing health insurance options, the company has stepped into the financial services market and is also making huge investments in the eCommerce business in order to compete with other online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
Walmart holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked retailers worth considering include Citi Trends, Inc. (CTRN) and Foot Locker, Inc. (FL). While Citi Trends sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Foot Locker holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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