Is partnering with two big insurance companies to offer creative plans to two of its owners’ employees.
30,000 JPMorgan workers in Ohio and Arizona covered by Cigna and Aetna will be offered a plan that has no deductibles, with copays ranging from $15 to $110 depending on the service; facility copays will likely be higher.
Amazon’s also offering a Haven Healthcare plan in a handful of states. The giant seller-of-everything also just bought Health Navigator for an undisclosed sum.
it will fold [Health Navigator] into Amazon Care, its new employee healthcare benefit that gives users access to virtual doctors and nurses…Amazon Care users (currently limited to employees in the Seattle area) can fill prescriptions through the e-commerce giant and choose between having them delivered or picked up at a participating pharmacy. By providing healthcare services to its employee base Amazon gets to test the waters and make fixes before the program is offered to a wider market.
Evidently Health Navigator uses an AI-based health bot which helps members diagnose illnesses, determine the right course of care, and then routes the member as appropriate.
While JPMorgan and Berkshire are likely funding Haven to help reduce their healthcare costs, Amazon’s got bigger plans.
With annual revenues around $340 billion, the giant company needs a really, really big market to keep growing. Healthcare is $3.4 trillion, massively screwed up, and just the kind of target Bezos et al need to keep the good times rolling.
What does this mean for you?
If you think Haven won’t succeed, did you ever think you’d be getting your groceries, tools, video, toiletries, prescriptions, car parts, medical devices, batteries, dog food, shoes, and music from an on-line bookseller?
Haven’s acquisition of Health Navigator seems like it should have immediate impact on reducing outpatient, professional services and drug distribution costs. Certainly, they’ll effectively use their bargaining power contracting with hospital systems where there’s a nexus of the joint venture’s employees, unless a hospital system monopolizes the market. The lack of drug pricing transparency–assuming the Federal Government doesn’t change that anytime soon– and the dire state of lifestyle risk will soon be two additional challenges for Haven.