Even Walmart thinks American healthcare is simply too costly

Walmart isn’t making sufficient cash off its new well being facilities, so it determined to shut up store. The retail big introduced as we speak that it’ll shutter all 51 well being facilities it opened up throughout 5 states since 2019. Walmart can also be eliminating its digital care program after buying telehealth supplier MeMD in 2021.

“We decided there’s not a sustainable enterprise mannequin for us to proceed,” Walmart stated in an announcement as we speak.

Retail giants like Walmart, BestBuy, and Amazon have every tried to take their very own share of People’ $3.6 trillion in well being spending annually. However whereas retailer heavyweights thought they may flip a revenue by making healthcare extra handy and reasonably priced, the fact has been far more difficult.

“It is a troublesome choice, and like others, the difficult reimbursement setting and escalating working prices create an absence of profitability that make the care enterprise unsustainable for us right now,” Walmart stated as we speak. It’s an about-face from final 12 months when Walmart stated it deliberate to double its variety of well being clinics and increase into two new states in 2024.

Walmart didn’t share particular dates for when every Walmart Well being Middle would shut its doorways however stated that it will preserve serving current sufferers whereas they keep open. The corporate’s 4,600 pharmacies and roughly 3,000 Imaginative and prescient Facilities received’t be affected.