Amazon is at it again.  They’ve trained us as consumers to research pricing before buying.  Now they’re looking to do the same thing with healthcare.  This could be a very good thing to compliment traditional insurance, especially higher deductible plans. Is this a new way to get healthcare or just another fad? After what some would say was a false start in the spring, Amazon seems like they’ve got it right this time.

The company announced Thursday that Amazon Prime members who use the  Amazon One Medical health care program will see clear, upfront pricing for the clinical visits, treatment plans and medications related to many common health, beauty and lifestyle concerns, such as wrinkly skin, hair loss, erectile dysfunction and motion sickness.

Prime members can see health care providers for the eligible conditions through a mobile app at any time of the day on any day of the week.

The app will show a Prime member the cost of a visit before the visit.

If the provider writes a prescription, the Prime member can take the prescription to any pharmacy, but a member will be able to buy the medication from Amazon Pharmacy through a quick online process, according to Amazon.

Amazon Pharmacy will provide same-day medication delivery in New York, Los Angeles and 10 other markets and somewhat slower medication delivery in the rest of the country.

Paying for the telehealth visits: 

The Amazon telehealth services providers are not part of insurance company provider networks.

Prime members must pay for the telehealth visits themselves.

In some cases, Prime members may be able to file claims for reimbursement for out-of-network care with their health plans.

Paying for the prescription drugs: 

Some Prime members could use Amazon telehealth providers but take the prescriptions to outside pharmacies.

Health insurers could pay for the medications for those Prime members, but the Prime members would not get any special Amazon discounts.

Prime members could use their health insurance to pay for prescriptions filled at Amazon Pharmacy. If Prime members use health insurance to pay for Amazon Pharmacy purchases, those members would not qualify for the new lifestyle program discounts.

Prime members who participate in Amazon’s Prime Rx prescription discount program and pay for the lifestyle program drugs themselves will qualify for big discounts negotiated by Amazon, the company said.

The initial monthly price will be $16 for a medication that promotes hair growth, $19 for a medication that treats erectile dysfunction and $43 for a medication that promotes eyelash growth.

The impact: 

The creators of programs such as the health savings account program and the federal government’s hospital price transparency programs have talked about the importance of persuading consumers to think about price as well as quality and convenience when choosing providers.

Up until now, efforts to get consumers interested in health care prices have had only limited success, in part because consumers feel confused and in part because care providers rarely give patients complete, clear information about pricing.

Amazon is hoping its new lifestyle drug discount program strategy will change that.

“This simple, upfront pricing helps customers shop for their health care and make informed, confident conditions,” the company said.

In the long run, exposure to lifestyle care providers who post their prices could get employer plan enrollees interested in using other health care providers who post their prices.

Do you want to learn more about how this strategy could help you? Drop us a line, [email protected]. We’re always happy to help.