Costco is broadening its reach into healthcare through a partnership with Sesame, a New York-based medical care marketplace startup that connects consumers directly with primary care and mental health clinicians for appointments online and in-person without insurance.
Sesame announced Monday that Costco members will receive primary care visits starting at $29 and other discounts. The startup, which does not accept insurance, aims to accommodate individuals who are uninsured, have a high deductible insurance, or want to pay-per-visit.
Sesame, which raised $27 million last year, has more than 3,500 clinicians on the platform who set their own price and typically work from their own clinics. The startup is backed by GV, Virgin Group, General Catalyst and Giant Ventures.
Costco and Sesame are not planning to open clinics in stores, according to Bloomberg.
The partnership is another effort by Costco to boost its healthcare services options, expanding on its pharmacies, optical care and hearing aids. The company — which increased net sales by 1.9% to $52.6 billion in its most recent fiscal quarter — is looking to boost sales after low growth coming out of a pandemic surge. It has nearly 125 million membership cardholders worldwide.
Costco’s growing healthcare push follows other retailers, including Amazon. The Seattle e-commerce giant earlier this year acquired primary care company One Medical for $3.9 billion. Last year it shut down Amazon Care, a hybrid of virtual, in-home primary care and urgent care services, without brick-and-mortar clinics or physical locations.
