You Can Now Buy Health Insurance at Walmart. Should You?

UPDATED: 5PM ET

Want help choosing a health insurance plan? Superstore Walmart is betting that many consumers do—and that they will visit a big-box store for guidance.

The company announced this morning that it is teaming up with the health comparison website DirectHealth.com to house insurance agents in 2,700 of its 4,300 U.S. stores. The agents will help shoppers understand and compare individual insurance plans as well as private Medicare plans, including drug, supplemental, and Advantage policies.

The agents will be in stores from this Friday, October 10, through December 7, a time frame that captures the kick-off of the annual enrollment periods for both individual health plans and private Medicare policies. Medicare open enrollment starts October 15; you can begin shopping for an individual policy for 2015 on November 15.

“For years, our customers have told us that there is too much complexity when it comes to understanding their health insurance options,” said Labeed Diab, president of Walmart’s U.S. health and wellness group, in a press release announcing the program. Since 2005, Walmart has hosted insurance agents from individual insurers in some stores to answer questions and enroll customers in health plans. This new program expands on that.

A bid for more health care business

This move isn’t the first time Walmart has dabbled in health care. The company has been slowly adding retail clinics to many of its locations, letting shoppers get primary care such as strep tests and treatment for ear infections at the store. Walmart's total number of clinics, though, falls far short of what pharmacy chains CVS or Walgreens offer.

By adding insurance agents to its stores, the retailer appears to be aiming to get consumers to think of Walmart as a one-stop resource for health care. Walmart will not receive commissions on the sale of health plans, the Associated Press reports, but hopes the agents will attract consumers who will then rely on the stores for other health care needs, such as prescriptions. The agents will receive a commission from the insurers whenever a patient enrolls in a plan in the store, The Washington Post reports.

Where else to get help

In announcing the program, Walmart noted that many consumers have difficulty understanding their health plans. While that's true, Walmart will be just one of many places where you can find guidance. Other comparison websites, such as ehealthinsurance.com and gohealthinsurance.com, already offer online and call-in assistance, though neither have retail locations around the country.

So should you head to Walmart face-to-face help with an individual or Medicare plan? The store will offer individual plans from 300 carriers, and Medicare plans from 13 firms. So you should be able to find options in your area. But keep in mind what other help is out there.

•For individual health insurance plans: Unless you qualify for a special enrollment period because you, say, lost your employer-based coverage or got divorced, you are generally locked out from buying a new individual health insurance plan or switching policies until the annual open enrollment period, which this year begins November 15 and runs through February 15. You'll be able to buy a policy either through your state insurance exchange (find yours at healthcare.gov), an insurer, a comparison website, or an insurance agent.

Once open enrollment begins, many community centers and non-profits around the country will be staffed with counselors, navigators, or other assisters who can offer explain a plan’s details (though many aren’t supposed to tell you which plan is best for you). Find a group offering assistance in your area at localhelp.healthcare.gov. For questions about a plan sold on the public exchange, Healthcare.gov lists the 1-800 number for your state.

Unless you qualify for a subsidized policy under Obamacare (in which case you may be required to buy through an exchange), you should compare policies on the exchanges with those sold directly by insurers. You can find a local insurance agent who can sell you an on- or off-exchange individual policy at nahu.org. Comparison websites also list details for both types of plans, though there's no guarantee every off-exchange plan available from an insurer will be listed on each site.

One caveat: the in-store agents will be able to explain plan details and help with comparison shopping, but they won't be able to actually enroll you in an individual plan in the store, according to a Walmart spokesperson. To sign up you'll need to call Direct Health, Walmart's partner, or go to the website. (The agents will be able to enroll you in a Medicare plan while you're in the store.)

Keep in mind that while DirectHealth.com is required by law to list every plan available through the exchange, it won't necessarily include the full details for each plan. Instead, the site attempts to determine which plans may best suit you, says Michael Mahoney, senior vice president of marketing at GoHealth, which powers the DirectHealth.com comparison site. "We want to make sure people have the right amount of choice without overwhelming them," he says. You decide if you'd rather see all your options, or only a limited choice.

•For private Medicare plans: You can make changes to your Medicare drug or Medicare Advantage plan starting on October 15. It is a good idea to analyze your current plan and new options every year instead of sticking with what you've got, since plans and premiums change and new options appear.

The Medicare Rights Center offers a national help line (800-333-4114) to help seniors understand the program and determine if their income qualifies them for other resources, such as a prescription drug subsidy. Your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program offers one-on-one assistance to Medicare beneficiaries and their families. Find your state's at shiptalk.org.

The medicare.gov tool run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services lets you compare plans in your local area. This tool also lists every possible plan available to you, which is not the case with Walmart's program. For example, a 67-year-old woman who lives in one Northern California zip code and takes no drugs has 11 Part D prescription drug plans options listed on DirectHealth.com. On medicare.gov, that same woman would find more than 30 choices.