Almost eight months after closing its $3.9 billion acquisition of primary care company One Medical, Amazon is making health care through the platform a benefit for Prime members.
For $9 a month, or $99 a year, Prime members can get access to One Medical’s on-demand virtual care or in-office care at locations across the U.S. The price amounts to a savings of $100 on One Medical’s annual membership fee.
The Prime One Medical membership benefit features video chats with licensed providers, including an in-app “Treat Me Now” feature for common concerns such as cold and flu, skin issues, allergies, urinary tract infections, and more, according to Amazon. There is no additional charge beyond the membership fee for virtual care.
Prime members can also visit any of One Medical’s hundreds of primary care offices across the U.S., and pay for these visits with insurance or out of pocket. One Medical also accepts health plans from most insurance carriers.
One Medical was founded in 2007 by Tom Lee, a medical doctor who grew up in the Seattle area and received his MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine. The company went public in January 2020.
Based in San Francisco, One Medical had 836,000 members and 221 medical offices in the U.S. at the end of last year. It posted $1.04 billion in revenue last year, up 68% from the year prior, with a net loss of $144.1 million, up from $34.8 million.
Amazon’s deal for One Medical was first announced in July 2022, and closed last February. The acquisition was Amazon’s third-largest ever, behind its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017, and its $8.5 billion purchase of Hollywood studio MGM.
Amazon has attempted to establish a foothold in primary care through various initiatives. Amazon Care debuted in 2019 as a pilot program for Amazon employees in the Seattle area and Amazon had plans to expand its virtual and in-person services, but the program was shut down last year after Amazon determined that it wasn’t “the right long-term solution for our enterprise customers.”
Amazon and its partners Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase also shut down their Haven healthcare joint venture in 2021.
The company launched its Amazon Pharmacy service in November 2020, following its $753 million acquisition of prescription-by-mail company PillPack in 2018.
Prime members adding the One Medical benefit can extend it to family members, with up to five additional memberships, each costing $6 a month, or $66 annually. Prime members can go to this Prime page to add a Prime One Medical membership. They will have the option to pay monthly or annually and will be guided to where they can download the One Medical app, create an account, book and appointment and more.
Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical attracted scrutiny from antitrust regulators concerned about how Amazon might use data from One Medical clients, The Wall Street Journal reported in February.
Amazon says it “takes the responsibility of safeguarding and protecting customer information extremely seriously” across all of its health care services.
