Amazon Buys Up Primary Health Care Company

Amazon announced that it will be acquiring One Medical, a self-described “human-centered, technology-powered national primary care organization,” for $3.9 billion in a press release Thursday.

The all-cash deal is the first major acquisition of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s tenure and is significant because it supports Amazon’s goal to expand its presence in the healthcare space, The Wall Street Journal reported. Through the acquisition, Amazon will have access to almost 200 medical offices and more than 8,000 companies that used One Medical to provide health benefits to employees.

One Medical blends virtual telehealth appointments with a network of in-person facilities to “make it faster, easier, and more enjoyable to get care,” according to their website.

“We think health care is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention,” Senior Vice President of Amazon Health Services Neil Lindsay said in Thursday’s press release. Amazon has increasingly delved into the healthcare space in recent years, which is a top priority for Jassy, according to the WSJ.

Amazon acquired the online pharmacy Pillpack in 2018, launched its own telehealth service called Amazon Care in 2019 and has flirted with expanding into at-home self-diagnostic tests in recent years, according to CNBC.

https://twitter.com/JonErlichman/status/1550099696487653377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener
But some commentators have expressed concern that Amazon is increasingly encroaching into more and more facets of Americans’ lives.

NPR correspondent David Gura tweeted “is there anything this corporation won’t know about your day-to-day life?”

“Amazon is going to expand their mass, personal data collection scheme with the purchase of One Medical. This is bad for competition in health care, and opens a terrifying new frontier in surveillance of Americans by private corporations,” the Open Markets Institute wrote following the announcment.

Amazon agreed to pay $18 per share, a roughly 77% premium on where One Medical closed Wednesday, and One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin will remain as the company’s CEO, the WSJ reported.

Neither Amazon nor One Medical immediately responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.