Costco has built its business around a simple idea: Get shoppers to pay for a membership, and then give them enough value that they want to renew it year after year.
That formula remains central to the warehouse club’s growth.
During Costco’s most recent earnings call, CFO Gary Millerchip said the company generated $1.849 billion in membership fee income during the fourth quarter, up 7.3% from a year earlier.
Costco also ended fiscal 2026 with 84.1 million paid members and 150.4 million total cardholders. Its renewal rate was 92.3% in the U.S. and Canada and 89.8% worldwide.
These numbers help explain why Costco continues to invest in benefits that go beyond the traditional warehouse-shopping experience. And healthcare is becoming an increasingly important part of that strategy.
Costco adds more healthcare and convenience perks
During the fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call, CEO Ron Vachris highlighted several ways Costco boosted member value during the year.
“We increased member value and convenience through our GLP-1 and fertility programs, as well as digital options like RX mobile pay ahead and pickup lockers,” Vachris said.
“Many U.S. buildings are now achieving Rx Pay Ahead penetrations of more than one-third of prescriptions, saving both members and our employees valuable time.”
These initiatives address two important pieces of the membership proposition: cost and convenience.
Costco has expanded its prescription offerings, including member pricing on medications and fertility drugs. Its pharmacy also offers member pricing on certain GLP-1 medications, including Wegovy and Ozempic.
The second piece is convenience.
Costco’s pharmacy offers prescription Pay Ahead and locker pickup at select locations, along with same-day delivery and mail-order options. These services can make the membership more useful, even when a shopper isn’t making a traditional Costco run.
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Costco’s healthcare push is a strategic move
Healthcare is already a natural extension of Costco’s value proposition. The company has spent years offering members savings on prescriptions, optical products, hearing aids, and other health-related services.
Costco’s Member Prescription Program, for example, is offered as a membership benefit at no additional charge and provides discounted prescription prices at Costco and participating pharmacies.
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Costco is also moving further into healthcare partnerships. The company recently teamed up with SCAN Health Plan to offer a Medicare Advantage experience built around Costco members, combining SCAN’s healthcare expertise with Costco’s consumer-focused model.
That expansion gives Costco another avenue for increasing the perceived value of membership. It also fits the company’s broader digital strategy.
Costco’s digitally enabled sales surpassed $33 billion for the fiscal year, a growth rate of more than 20%.
For Costco, healthcare can accomplish several things at once: provide members with potential savings, create recurring interactions, improve convenience, and give shoppers another reason to keep paying the annual fee.
Given its business model, Costco has a clear financial incentive to keep finding new ways to make memberships more valuable.
Healthcare appears to be one of the company’s increasingly important areas to target, especially as Costco seeks to grow its numbers even more.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.
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