Costco’s Bold Medicare Play Stuns Insurers

Costco members will soon be able to buy a Medicare plan with the same card they use to buy rotisserie chicken and tires.

Quick Take

Costco and SCAN Health Plan announced an expanded partnership on August 18, 2026, marking Costco’s first full-scale Medicare plan offering.
The companies will start with jointly branded Medicare Advantage plans in two states and a Medicare supplement plan in a third.
Costco already serves as a preferred pharmacy for SCAN members, offering discounted medications, vaccines, and vision care.
The deal builds on an October 2025 partnership that brought SCAN Health Day events into select Costco stores.
Medicare Advantage now covers slightly more than half of all eligible Medicare beneficiaries nationwide.

What Costco And Scan Are Actually Rolling Out

SCAN Health Plan and Costco Wholesale Corporation announced an “enhanced strategic partnership” designed to bring more value to older adults.

The companies called it Costco’s first comprehensive partnership with a Medicare plan. That distinction matters. Costco has dabbled in health-adjacent services before, but this marks the first time it is putting its name directly on Medicare insurance products sold to its members.

Costco is partnering with nonprofit insurer SCAN Group to pilot Costco-branded Medicare plans that integrate coverage with several of the retailer’s health services. https://t.co/8NHPlpugEZ

— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) August 19, 2026

The rollout starts small and deliberate. Costco and SCAN plan to sell jointly branded Medicare Advantage products in two states, plus a separate Medicare supplement plan in a third state.

SCAN is one of the largest nonprofit Medicare Advantage insurers in the country, giving Costco a partner with real scale in senior coverage rather than a startup untested in the space.

Costco operates 626 warehouse stores across the United States, giving it a massive built-in customer base already accustomed to trusting the brand for big-ticket purchases.

Layering Medicare plans onto that foot traffic turns routine shopping trips into potential insurance touchpoints, a strategy insurers have wanted access to for years.

A Partnership Built Over Nearly A Year

This announcement did not appear out of nowhere. Back in October 2025, SCAN and Costco unveiled an earlier partnership focused on cost savings, naming Costco a preferred pharmacy for SCAN’s Medicare Advantage members. That arrangement gave members discounted medications, key vaccinations, and vision care through SCAN’s eyewear allowance.

Days later, the two companies launched “SCAN Health Day” events at select Costco locations, sending plan representatives directly into stores to talk with shoppers about their Medicare options. Those in-person events look like a testing ground. Costco and SCAN were gauging whether seniors would engage in insurance conversations while they shopped, and apparently the answer was yes.

Why Retailers Keep Chasing The Medicare Advantage Boom

Costco is not stepping into this market blind. Medicare Advantage now covers slightly more than half of all eligible Medicare beneficiaries, and both the Medicare Trustees and the Congressional Budget Office expect that share to keep climbing. Enrollment has exploded over the past two decades, growing by more than 22 million beneficiaries between 2006 and 2022 alone.

That growth has attracted heavy competition among insurers, and the market has consolidated fast. The five largest national Medicare Advantage carriers grew their combined market share from 46 percent in 2012 to 66 percent in 2023.

In a concentrated field, a partner with a trusted retail brand and millions of loyal members offers real distribution advantages that pure insurance marketing cannot easily replicate.

Costco is partnering with nonprofit insurer SCAN Group to pilot Costco-branded Medicare plans that integrate coverage with several of the retailer’s health services. https://t.co/xVwNGStjd0

— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) August 19, 2026

Zero-premium Medicare Advantage plans have also surged in popularity since 2019, giving insurers another reason to compete on convenience and added perks rather than price alone.

For Costco, a company built on membership loyalty and bulk savings, pairing its brand with a nonprofit insurer known for senior-focused care fits naturally into that competitive shift.

Older Americans have another familiar name to consider when picking coverage, and Costco is gaining a foothold in an insurance market that is only getting bigger.

Whether shoppers embrace mixing warehouse memberships with Medicare decisions the way they embraced bulk toilet paper remains the open question insurers and retailers alike will be watching closely in the months ahead.