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Amazon is continuing its expansion into healthcare
Big Tech companies are increasingly diversifying. We’ve talked about how they’ve started to venture into the insurance space, given the ample data they have access to for the ‘underwriting process’, and healthcare is no different. Case in point: Amazon, the tech and e-commerce giant, recently announced that it plans to acquire One Medical, a tech-powered combination of primary care and telehealth services. Whether you’re excited, terrified, or neutral about this news, this Pacific Prime Latin America spills the beans.
One Medical provides 24/7, on-demand care
With its membership-based model, One Medical aims to provide its members with more affordable and accessible healthcare through a blend of human-centered design, technology, and a great team. Members can access care at physical locations near where they work, live, and shop in 12 major U.S. markets. Virtual care is also an option, and is available 24/7. One Medical serves not just consumers, but also more than 8,000 companies to help them bring medical health benefits to employees.
Amazon pays nearly USD $4 billion for One Medical
If you’re familiar with Amazon and its services, you’ll know that healthcare isn’t a new space for the company. Amazon Care provides healthcare built around the individual, their life, and their schedule. That being said, news that Amazon will purchase One Medical for nearly USD $4 billion makes it one of Amazon’s biggest acquisitions to date, and signifies how serious it is about consumer-facing healthcare.
The role of Amazon in the U.S. healthcare system
Healthcare in the U.S. is known to be notoriously expensive. In fact, it consistently ranks #1 for the country with the highest average health insurance premiums. Additionally, healthcare can also be difficult to obtain, and patients aren’t always guaranteed value for money. In this context, some people believe that companies like Amazon may have a solution, and their investment in alternative healthcare models may make healthcare affordable and accessible.
Skepticism exists about Amazon’s growing power
Like many other healthcare companies, One Medical collects a lot of user data – something that’s of great interest to companies like Amazon, and concerns exist over the misuse of data. In addition, many antitrust regulators are worried about Amazon dominating the healthcare sector, and are likely to scrutinize the deal further. However, it has yet to be seen whether the deal will go through and what its impacts will be.
Senator Elizabeth Warren explained in a Vox article that Amazon’s purchase of a primary care provider is deeply concerning because:
“Amazon already has too much economic power, a terrible track record with workers, and alarmingly little clinical experience, which raises major questions about how this deal could impact consumer prices and health care choices.”
Get in touch with Pacific Prime Latin America today!
The crux of the matter is that healthcare has become so unaffordable and inaccessible, which is why it’s so important to secure access to a comprehensive health insurance plan. In the event the unfortunate happens, you’ll have peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re covered – anytime, anywhere. Not sure where to begin in your hunt for health insurance? Pacific Prime Latin America is at your service.
With over two decades of industry experience, Pacific Prime Latin America brings to you a number of friendly, knowledgeable, impartial, and multilingual insurance advisors. They’ll provide you with a tailored plan comparison and support you throughout your insurance journey – from filling out forms to liaising with insurers and submitting claims for reimbursement to renewing your plans!
With over 5 years of experience in the field, Suphanida spends the majority of her day synthesizing complex pieces of insurance-related information and translating this into easy-to-understand, engaging, and effective content across a variety of media such as articles, infographics, whitepapers, videos, and more.
Suphanida is also responsible for planning and publishing three whitepapers released annually by Pacific Prime: The State of Health Insurance Report, The Cost of Health Insurance Report, and The Global Employee Benefits Trends Report. Additionally, she handles the LinkedIn profiles of Pacific Prime’s Founder and CEO, as well as Global HR Lead.
Suphanida’s strengths lie in her strong research and analytical skills, which she has gained from her BA in Politics from the University of Warwick and Erasmus Mundus Joint MA in Journalism from Aarhus University and City, University of London.
Being of Thai-Indian origin and having lived, studied, and worked in Thailand, the UK, and Denmark, Suphanida also has a unique, multicultural perspective that helps her understand the struggles of expats and globetrotters.
Outside of work, she enjoys traveling to new places and immersing herself in different cultures.
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