UnitedHealthcare Store: A New Direct-to-Consumer Channel for Digital Health in the U.S.

In my primer on the U.S. Healthcare Market, I discuss how one of the biggest advantages of launching a digital health product in the U.S. is the number of different and varied entry points you have into the U.S. Healthcare Market.  Well, that number went up by one with the launch of the UnitedHealthCare store, or its  UHC Store. 

From what I can tell, UnitedHealthCare will give its members access to an app and website that will allow them to buy health, wellness, and benefit-adjacent digital services (e.g. weight loss programs, musculoskeletal / orthopedic apps, women’s health tools) with discounts of up to 15%. Not clear what the process is to get a product in their store, but likely this is based on user demand, hopefully some proof of the product’s effectiveness, and your willingness to cut a deal with UnitedHealthCare on the cost of your product.  

Why is this a big deal?  Because UnitedHealthCare is the largest private health insurer in the U.S. by both size and revenue.  How big?  Around 50 million Americans receive their health insurance through a UnitedHealthCare plan (to put this in perspective, Germany’s entire population is 84ish million).  So this approach – having a store with discounted rates to health and wellness products (particularly amenable to digital health apps through its app store) as an added benefit for members will probably set an example for other big insurance providers (think Anthem, CVS, Cigna… maybe even Medicare??), and be a way for Americans to buy healthcare products.

Importantly, the UHC Store is one example of a larger trend in consumer-driven healthcare.  Part of what is driving the MAHA movement (ok, I need to write a post about MAHA too, as it’s a lot more than just vaccine hesitancy and more a reflection of how Americans feel – justifiably – let down by the healthcare system what they want and expect moving forward) is a desire to make healthcare more personalized and less prescribed. This is why so many Americans are willing to pay out-of-pocket for healthcare products (2x’s, but I expect more, compared to Germans) or through Health Savings Accounts (which have risen dramatically in popularity), and why so many are opting for Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs), which let them select the coverage that fits their needs. The Store extends this principle: members can browse, select, and pay for products that meet their individual needs (and at a discounted rate given UnitedHealthCare’s bargaining edge) and even use their HSAs to buy these products tax-free.   

The store is already available to about 6 million employer-sponsored health plan members, with a target of scaling to 18 million by end of year.  Again, given the size of UnitedHealthCare’s total insurance pool, the store could potentially expand its offerings to 50 million Americans.  Several digital health products are supposedly already available through the store (hard to know for sure as you have to be a UnitedHealthCare member to access it), including Maven and Hinge, but others for supporting weight loss, women’s health apps are supposed to be a big seller at the store.

Bottom line: 

The UHC Store illustrates a broader trend (that you probably knew already but should really take seriously): in the U.S., healthcare innovation increasingly centers on empowering consumers. For EU founders, understanding this shift is essential for entering the market and creating products that resonate with American members who want to take control of their health.