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Amazon Health

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Re: Amazon Health

#2
Once the infrastructure is in place to automate healthcare delivery they can lobby the government to implement a single payer solution and they will be the only service provider available to deliver the necessary services. It's a virtual gold mine.

You heard it here first: death panels as a service.

Triage by algorithm would remove one of the most disturbing responsibilities in medicine.

Re: Amazon Health

#3
post #2

Once the infrastructure is in place to automate healthcare delivery they can lobby the government to implement a single payer solution and they will be the only service provider available to deliver the necessary services. It's a virtual gold mine. You heard it here first: death panels as a service. Triage by algorithm would remove one of the most disturbing responsibilities in medicine.

Your imagination's talent for dystopia is both startling and frightening.

Re: Amazon Health

#4
I read the original announcement and also this analysis. Is it decided that Amazon will “own” the healthcare provider? As far as I can tell this is still a joint effort by several companies with the same philosophy on how to solve the problem. Presumably if other large companies were aligned they could create their own joint partnerships or discuss the possibility of joining this one.

Re: Amazon Health

#5
The article makes the point that the companies have complementary business competencies that could help them deliver a better healthcare experience (tech, logistics and customer service at amazon; reinsurance at berkshire; capital at JPM), but there is another advantage to these three companies working together: scale.

amazon and berkshire are in the top 10 employers, and JPM is in the top 25. while most of the talk around improving healthcare cost / quality in the US centers around technology, value based care, etc, the real economics, and company's strategies, are largely driven by scale. this collaboration is a way to immediately get a strong negotiating position in any discussion and to provide a sizable test bed for various initiatives

Re: Amazon Health

#6
post #2

Once the infrastructure is in place to automate healthcare delivery they can lobby the government to implement a single payer solution and they will be the only service provider available to deliver the necessary services. It's a virtual gold mine. You heard it here first: death panels as a service. Triage by algorithm would remove one of the most disturbing responsibilities in medicine.

And with an advertising/product/consumer influence infrastructure in place they could just arbitrate that indirectly with getting you to consume certain products under certain circumstances to affect certain conditions in both individual and collective behavior towards a desired state.

Re: Amazon Health

#7

The article makes the point that the companies have complementary business competencies that could help them deliver a better healthcare experience (tech, logistics and customer service at amazon; reinsurance at berkshire; capital at JPM), but there is another advantage to these three companies working together: scale. amazon and berkshire are in the top 10 employers, and JPM is in the top 25. while most of the talk…

If these companies get together and create a not for profit, how can for-profit providers even begin to negotiate with them.

Also given the scale of these companies, wouldn't this raise healthcare costs for all others who don't work for one of them?

Re: Amazon Health

#8
post #2

Once the infrastructure is in place to automate healthcare delivery they can lobby the government to implement a single payer solution and they will be the only service provider available to deliver the necessary services. It's a virtual gold mine. You heard it here first: death panels as a service. Triage by algorithm would remove one of the most disturbing responsibilities in medicine.

I’m imagining buying more red meat causing your premiums to rise.

Re: Amazon Health

#9

The article makes the point that the companies have complementary business competencies that could help them deliver a better healthcare experience (tech, logistics and customer service at amazon; reinsurance at berkshire; capital at JPM), but there is another advantage to these three companies working together: scale. amazon and berkshire are in the top 10 employers, and JPM is in the top 25. while most of the talk…

If these companies get together and create a not for profit, how can for-profit providers even begin to negotiate with them. Also given the scale of these companies, wouldn't this raise healthcare costs for all others who don't work for one of them?

Not necessarily. The largest driver of healthcare costs in the US is pharma profits. This venture, combined with the CVS/Aetna merger and the common drug factory venture, should place substantial downward pressure on pharmaceuticals to lower their prices or lose hundreds of millions in business...forever.

Re: Amazon Health

#10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If these companies get together and create a not for profit, how can for-profit providers even begin to negotiate with them. Also given the scale of these companies, wouldn't this raise healthcare costs for all others who don't work for one of them?

Not necessarily. The largest driver of healthcare costs in the US is pharma profits. This venture, combined with the CVS/Aetna merger and the common drug factory venture, should place substantial downward pressure on pharmaceuticals to lower their prices or lose hundreds of millions in business...forever.

The largest driver of cost in the US healthcare system is actually hospital care (30% of spend) while drug costs account for ~10%

Not to say that drug prices aren't too high but they are just one piece of the puzzle

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