Welcome to AI Health Uncut, a brutally honest newsletter on AI, innovation, and the state of the healthcare market. If you’d like to sign up to receive issues over email, you can do so here.
Important Disclosure. I am an independent journalist with no financial interest, long or short, in any company mentioned here, including Walmart, Aaptiv, Aetna, Amazon (including PillPack and One Medical), Amwell, Andreessen Horowitz, Anthropic, Babylon Health, Berry Street, BetterHelp, Blueberry Pediatrics, Cabana, CheckUps, ChenMed, Cigna, Clover Health, Curai Health, Cost Plus Drug Company, CVS Health, Doximity, Eli Lilly, Elevance Health (Anthem), Epic Systems, General Medicine, GoodRx, Health at Scale, Hella+Health, Humana, Included Health (Doctor On Demand), JPMorgan Chase (Morgan Health), MeMD, Mercy, Molina Healthcare, Oak Street Health, Ochsner Health, QuadMed, Rock Health, Solace Health, Solv, Teladoc Health, Twin Health, UnitedHealth Group, VillageMD, Wheel and Zocdoc. Facts come from public records, company statements and press coverage, hyperlinked at the point of reference. Accounts attributed to people familiar with the company come from sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, and were verified against public records where possible. This article is my opinion, based on the sources cited, and is not investment, legal or medical advice.
While the world was mesmerized by Anthropic’s IPO filing on Monday (apparently everyone who has ever used the Claude chatbot is now an expert on S-1 forms 😉), we all missed the big news of Walmart’s 9th attempt at healthcare. The same day, Walmart expanded Better Care Services, its online healthcare hub, into a full “healthcare store” powered by General Medicine, a startup run by PillPack co-founder TJ Parker. Shoppers can compare insured and cash prices on more than 900 products and services, from telehealth and labs to select in-person visits, drawn from General Medicine’s catalog of 2,900+. It comes 2.5 years after Walmart closed all 51 Walmart Health centers and its virtual care business.
Walmart has decided that being the doctor doesn’t pay. But owning the aisle where you shop for one might.
But first, I’m excited to be attending HLTH USA 2026, the marquee healthcare innovation event, November 15-18 in Las Vegas! Join me: https://app.ingo.me/q/56jqv
🎙️ So… Calling all medical professionals, healthtech folks, and fans of our podcast, Digital Health Inside Out. Alex Koshykov and I are looking for a few brave souls willing to join us for in-person conversations that may range from serious healthcare debates to completely inappropriate healthtech dad jokes. 😄 We’ll be recording right from the floor of HLTH in Las Vegas, November 15–18. 🎰🔥 If you’ll be there and think you’d be a good sport, drop a comment or send either of us a DM. One thing we can promise. It won’t be boring. And yes, things may get a little heated from time to time. 😉
A word about how this work gets paid for. Independent investigative journalism comes at a significant cost, both in time and legal risk. That’s why I have launched the AI Health Uncut Sponsorship Program. AI Health Uncut’s subscribers include prominent leaders in healthcare, technology and investment, including household names you would undoubtedly recognize. Sponsorship puts your work in front of all these people, who help shape the industry’s direction, its funding and its adoption of new technologies. Sponsorship does not buy favorable editorial coverage. But I welcome like-minded sponsors who respect my editorial independence and don’t interfere with what I write.
I also encourage my readers to become Founding Members. I need your support. By joining, you’re not only supporting my continued investigations and research into healthcare AI. You’re also helping me make this work accessible to people who may not be able to afford a subscription, whether they’re students, between jobs, or simply going through a difficult financial period. (If that’s you, please reach out.) Thanks to the generosity of Founding Members, I’m able to provide access to anyone who needs it. Your support is what keeps the lights on.
OK, back to Walmart… Below, I go back through all 8 failures over the past 20 years, drawing on my 2024 inside scoop on the death of Walmart Health. And I name the names of the people who contributed to the failure of Walmart Health, along with what they promised in public while it was falling apart.
I don’t name names to be vicious, and I don’t enjoy making enemies. I name names because we, as an industry, need to learn from our mistakes, especially the big-name ones. And almost no one is paying attention to figuring out what exactly happened.
A note on how this works. Most of my investigations start with a tip from someone like you. I verify it with other witnesses, then add my own “mosaic theory” research on top. Everything stays confidential, always. I have been doing this for 3 years. What follows is a standing public service announcement that I run in every investigation. It is not directed at any company discussed in this piece, and nothing in this article alleges that Walmart or any of its employees or representatives has broken the law or engaged in unethical conduct.
If you see something unethical, or even just weird, anywhere in healthtech, do not stay silent. Tell a newspaper, tell me (DMs, Signal, WhatsApp, whatever you prefer), or, if you believe a law has been broken, tell a law enforcement agency (tips.fbi.gov).
Here is what’s inside:
1. 8 Attempts in 20 Years. All Failed.
2. MeMD: A Joke of a Technology, Bought With Zero Due Diligence
3. Walmart Health Was a Panic Response to CVS-Aetna
4. Slovenski, Pegus, Carmouche, Setzer: The Leadership Carousel
5. Medicare Advantage Was Meant to Save Walmart Health. Instead, It Killed It.
6. Walmart Lied and Kept a Straight Face Until the Very End
7. What Survived: Pharmacy, Vision, Dental and Doctor On Demand
8. The New Plan: Be the Store, Not the Doctor
9. Price Transparency or a Paid Gatekeeper?
10. How to Avoid Failure #9: My Take
