Walmart is establishing closer ties with seniors covered by Medicare Advantage plans, an increasingly popular health plan choice for millions of U.S. seniors and where Amazon isn’t yet a player.

The latest example of Walmart’s interest in the MA market came this week with the announcement of a program with Anthem, operator of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 14 states. Effective in January 2019, Anthem’s Medicare Advantage plan enrollees can use the insurer’s “over-the-counter plan allowances” to buy OTC medications and personal healthcare items like “first aid supplies, support braces and pain relievers.”

Medicare Advantage plans tend to offer cheaper medical care and related healthcare products than someone would pay a retailer or out-of-pocket. Seniors will also be inundated with information from the health plan about products and services from Walmart, which operates more than 4,700 stores and the walmart.com website.

“For Walmart, the partnership extends its move upstream to influence where drugs and medical supplies are purchased,” L.E.K Consulting’s Andrew Kadar said of the retailer's program with Anthem. “Roughly 40% of OTC drugs are used by people older than 65 years of age (and) 35% of those seniors are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan and another 42% have a stand-alone Medicare Part D plan.”

​https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2018/08/21/walmart-outflanks-amazon-to-lock-up-seniors-medicare-plans/#3ee626cd3eef

Alphabet invests $375 million in Oscaraxios.comOscar is jumping into Medicare Advantage in 2020.

Google's parent company, Alphabet, is investing $375 million in health insurance startup Oscar just months after Oscar raised a separate $165 million cash injection. The new round leaves Oscar at a rough $3 billion valuation, per Wired.
The big picture: Oscar will use the money on technology and to expand into Medicare Advantage, which the company previewed with a job posting last year. But entering a new line of health insurance likely means losses will continue for the foreseeable future.

By the numbers: Oscar sells health plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces (for people who don't get insurance through a job) and for small employers. So far, the company has lost a lot of money:

• Net losses of $127 million in 2017 and $205 million in 2016.
• Revenue of $229 million in 2017 and $426 million in 2016.

Yes, but: Oscar is also relatively young and expects to lose money in the early years. However, due to state capital requirements, health insurers have to have enough cash on hand to cover expected medical claims, so Oscar can't continue to bleed money.
The intrigue: Oscar entering Medicare Advantage in 2020. It's the profitable, growing, privatized version of traditional Medicare. It also has closed, narrow networks of hospitals and doctors instead of traditional Medicare's open network.

• But it'd take a while for Oscar to make any money here, according to actuarial experts. Oscar has to build the infrastructure needed to get Medicare Advantage star bonuses, and risk adjustment in Medicare Advantage is a completely separate beast from the ACA's risk adjustment.

https://www.axios.com/google-alphabet-375-million-investment-oscar-health-1534263057-ce6a80ba-bd9e-465f-a26d-2ba3043ae1e9.html