Health insurers launch 'pop-up' stores at Twin Cities shopping centers
Health insurance companies in Minnesota are going after retail shoppers by setting up temporary "pop-up" stores and kiosks. The Pioneer Press reports HealthPartners, based in Bloomington, is opening a makeshift store at Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka on Thursday. The newspaper notes Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is also testing the rise of consumerism in health care by teaming up with Walgreens stores around the state.
Earlier this month, Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group opened 30 pop-up stores and more than 1,400 kiosks in shopping malls across the country to sign up aging baby boomers and seniors to its Medicare programs, the Star Tribune reports. The annual open enrollment period for Medicare began Oct. 15 and will end Dec. 7.
Medical providers are also taking advantage of the abundance of vacant strip malls and big-box stores by replacing them with conveniently located exam rooms.
