- Walmart’s Better Care Services digital health platform now connects patients to five third-party weight management providers — including Curai Health, Berry Street, and MyCare by Twin Health — who can prescribe GLP-1 weight loss drugs that patients then fill at Walmart’s nearly 4,600 retail pharmacies.
- The platform integrates with LillyDirect, Eli Lilly’s home delivery service for Zepbound, Mounjaro, and oral GLP-1 Foundayo — positioning Walmart as a full-stack GLP-1 access point from prescription to fulfillment to coaching support.
- Walmart is betting that pairing weight management programs with GLP-1 prescriptions increases medication adherence — a key challenge given that roughly 1 in 8 US adults are taking GLP-1s but high costs ($1,000+/month list price) and side effects like nausea drive significant drop-off.
- The move comes after Walmart shuttered its ambitious Walmart Health clinic network in 2024 after failing to make it profitable — signaling a pivot toward an asset-light digital health model that leverages existing pharmacy infrastructure rather than building new care facilities.
What Happened?
Walmart expanded its Better Care Services digital health platform to include weight management services, allowing patients to connect with third-party telehealth providers who can evaluate them and prescribe GLP-1 medications. Patients then fill those prescriptions at Walmart pharmacies, which the retailer has been actively upgrading — including launching same-day prescription delivery in 2024. Five providers are now available on the platform: Aaptiv, Berry Street, Curai Health, MyCare by Twin Health, and Wheel. Services range from GLP-1 prescription and management to nutrition therapy, exercise coaching, and behavioral support. Walmart also redesigned its GLP-1 digital destination webpage to consolidate medication, supplement, and service offerings in one place.
Why It Matters?
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro have become one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical categories in history, with roughly 1 in 8 American adults now using them. Walmart’s play is strategically smart: rather than manufacturing or developing drugs, it’s positioning itself as the distribution and adherence layer. By pairing telehealth prescribing with in-store or delivery fulfillment, it creates a closed loop that drives pharmacy revenue while keeping patients in the Walmart ecosystem. The bundle also addresses the adherence problem head-on — GLP-1 discontinuation rates are high because of cost and side effects, and research suggests structured weight management support improves persistence. For a retailer already under pressure from Amazon and other competitors, GLP-1s represent a genuine traffic and revenue driver anchored in a category that won’t be disrupted by two-day shipping.
What’s Next?
Walmart has said it will continue expanding Better Care Services with additional providers and service categories. The strategic question is whether the asset-light digital model — learn from the costly failure of physical Walmart Health clinics — can actually capture meaningful GLP-1 market share against pharmacy benefit managers, specialty pharmacies, and direct-to-consumer platforms like Hims & Hers. CVS and Walgreens are contracting rather than expanding their retail health footprints, which creates an opening. If Walmart can make its pharmacy network and digital platform work in concert at scale, it could become one of the dominant GLP-1 distribution channels in the country — a lucrative position as demand for these drugs continues to surge.
Source: Healthcare Dive
