Walmart Is Ready To Buy US Largest Health Insurance Company “Humana”
Walmart Is Ready To Buy US Largest Health Insurance Company “Humana”: Walmart is in the early stages of meetings to buy Humana which is one of the nation’s five largest health insurers. Humana Inc. is a American health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. As of 2017 Humana has had over 14 million customers in the U.S., market value of around $37 billion and reported revenue of US$53.7 billion in the last year.
Walmart & Health Insurance
Walmart has one of the nation’s largest chains of pharmacies among many other things. It has more than 3,600 pharmacies at its stores and employs more than 6,000 pharmacists (only Walgreens and CVS employ more pharmacists; only those two along with Rite Aid have more pharmacies).
Walmart also offers low-cost care clinics at some locations. The reason of Walmart joining health sector is out of their fears that competitor Amazon could attempt to move into the pharmacy space.
Walmart employs 1.5 million people, and offers health coverage to those working more than 30 hours per week. Owning a health insurance company could streamline coverage costs.
What Impact It Will Have on Health Insurance Market
The pharmaceutical and medical companies argue that the unusual combination of a health insurer and a retail store with pharmacies and walk-in clinics could rein in health care costs.
Last year Aetna and Humana have attempted $34 billion merger while Cigna and Anthem had $54 billion deal. The health insurance giants are looking for other merger options after their attempts to merge with each other received scrutiny from the Department of Justice and were blocked by federal judges.
Walmart push into healthcare is a surprising change of direction for the retailer. Walmart is one of the biggest pharmacy operators in the country, so extending its reach into healthcare will benefit many of its loyal customers.