Healthcare by Amazon? What To Know About Amazon’s One Medical Offering
INTERVIEW ON THE PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW, MEDIA PARTNER OF THIS SITE.
Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed Dr. David Wilcox.
Health Transparency: The Real Truth with Dr. David Wilcox
We all use Amazon’s service. I can’t think of anyone I know who has not ordered something from Amazon. Clearly, Amazon is a household name and drives billions of dollars in revenue. But getting healthcare from this retail giant? Is that even doable? Let’s examine Amazon’s model, their history in healthcare, and their data sharing model to make an informed decision.
Amazon One Medical markets itself as a modern approach to medical care—allowing people to get care on their terms, on their schedule. One Medical members receive ongoing support for their healthcare needs, using the One Medical app to book in-office doctors’ appointments at locations near them and to request 24/7 on-demand virtual care at no extra cost. Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit gives Amazon customers the option to seek out one-time virtual visits for 30+ common conditions.
Amazon One Medical has two basic offerings. Membership will cost $9 a month or $99 a year with additional family members paying $6 a month or $66 a year. The second option is pay-per-visit in which you pay $29 for a message visit, think text message on the app. This is not available in all states at this time. In addition, you can pay $49 for a video visit. Be reminded that this only covers the 30+ conditions they offer so it is somewhat limited. Amazon is also starting up clinics with plans to have them available in 32 states.
The next question that comes to mind is how Amazon One Medical works with your insurance plan? The One Medical membership fee is not covered by insurance, but they claim they can bill your insurance for scheduled visits, whether you’re seeing a provider in-office or remotely. If you’re using pay-per-visit, you pay an upfront, out-of-pocket fee for your telehealth treatment. This fee is not reflected in your insurances out of pocket costs meaning you will get no credit for it. Pay-per-visit doesn’t accept insurance for one-time virtual visits, but the fee is flexible spending account (FSA) and health savings account (HAS) eligible so if you have those accounts you can apply payment from them.
If you normally use health insurance to pay for your medications, you can do that with medications prescribed through all Amazon One Medical services. Amazon Pharmacy claims to accept most insurance plans. But as with anything, do your research to see if they do accept your insurance. Amazon pharmacy was set up through Pill Pack, a company they purchased for 1 billion dollars that was an epic fail. Pill Pack took all your medications and divided them up in daily doses instead of shipping them to you in vials containing 30, 60, or 90 days’ worth of doses. The market did not adopt this well so Pill Pack folded and Amazon pharmacy was born.
In 2023 Amazon’s healthcare unit as a whole lost 1.3 billion on 2.5 billion in revenue. With healthcare being a 3 trillion dollar market it’s no wonder Amazon wants to get in the game but their track record in healthcare hasn’t always been the best.
The big thing to consider here is what does Amazon do with your protected healthcare information or PHI. Clinical entities are regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA. Getting your care from a non-clinical entity changes your level of protection. One Medical is a covered entity under HIPAA but attempts to circumvent the law through language in its privacy notices. The One Medical HIPAA Privacy Policy states the company may disclose a patient’s protected health information without authorization to support “Healthcare Operations.” This broad characterization is defined as: “to administer and support One Medical’s business activities For example (and without limitation). One Medical may use a patient’s PHI to conduct quality analysis, data aggregation, review and improve our services and the care patients receive and to provide training. “The broad language used here signals patient health information is already being used by One Medical in a manner that is beyond the reach of HIPAA protection.
One Medical and Amazon released a statement where they noted HIPAA “governs what One Medical, Amazon, and others can do with Protected Health Information like medication history, medical conditions, and treatment information.” This language implies that Amazon sees itself not as a covered entity, but as a “business associate” which now has access to protected health information generated by a covered entity. While the “business associate” designation grants access and One Medical’s current HIPAA Privacy Policy uses broad language that technically still covers patient health information and data under HIPAA, it’s important to note that coverage does not equal responsible regulation.
Conclusion
It’s no secret that tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook, or Google use your information to tee up things they think you should buy. For that reason alone and the many healthcare data breaches we see in which PHI goes for 50 times the amount that credit card information goes for on the dark web, I for one will be staying away from Amazon One Medical and will work with my local provider for my healthcare needs.
Now that you have this information you can make an informed choice about whether you will allow big tech companies to manage your healthcare and more importantly your healthcare information.
According to a statement, “Healthcare is complex and that is not an accident. It is complex by the healthcare entities vying for your healthcare dollars. Covid has exacerbated the American Healthcare System, which was fragile, to begin with. Many clinicians are leaving healthcare due to burnout. How does the average layperson navigate the complexities of the American Healthcare System where a prescription could cost you $5 at one pharmacy and $500 at another? What does the average layperson do when their insurance company rejects their claim? Proactive education of the American Healthcare System prior to accessing it is the key to safely navigating the healthcare system. Until now, little information has been available to provide the layperson with the knowledge they need to be a better partner in their health care. Dr. David Wilcox’s book How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival” is a game-changer and will provide you with the skill set you need to navigate the American Healthcare System.
Website: https://drdavidwilcox.com/
Dr. Wilcox is a Doctorate prepared nurse who also holds a Masters in Health Administration and is Board Certified in Nursing Informatics. Dr. Wilcox has 28 years of healthcare experience in which he worked as a bedside nurse, hospital administrator, and in healthcare information technology which has helped him to develop his unique perspective on the American Healthcare System.
Dr. Wilcox is the author of the book “How to Avoid Being a Victim of the American Healthcare System: A Patient’s Handbook for Survival (2021)” available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578878364
Dr. Wilcox currently resides in North Carolina with his wife and their three dogs.
Dr Wilcox’s website: Dr. David Wilcox – Healthcare, American Healthcare System (drdavidwilcox.com)
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