Walmart Slashes Price for Virtual Visits

A patient talks to a doctor via Facetime on a phone during a telehealth visitWalmart customers love a bargain. Now the company is hoping its employees will feel the same way about virtual care visits. The Denver Post reports the retail giant rolled back prices on telemedicine visits earlier this year from $40 to $4 for the 1 million people enrolled in its Associates’ Medical Plan.

A Walmart spokesperson told Becker’s Hospital Review that it made the move to increase options for employees seeking care. Through the plan, virtual visits via the Doctor On Demand app are covered the same as a normal office visit.

Now comes the big challenge. Will employees choose virtual care? It won’t be easy if figures from the consulting firm Mercer are any indication. Mercer reported that only 8 percent of eligible workers across the country used telemedicine in 2017.