Amazon Care
- Amazon Care is launching nationally for its employees and other companies.
- Insider reported that the announcement was incoming last Friday.
- It's the first time Amazon is being clear about wanting to deliver medical care beyond its own staff.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Amazon on Wednesday said it's rolling out its telehealth service in all 50 states for its employees starting starting this summer. It will also expand to other employers later this year.
On Friday, Insider reported that the launch was imminent. And in December, Insider broke that Amazon was incubating "Amazon Care" as a business for other companies and undertaking a national expansion.
In-person services of Amazon Care, like home visits by nurses, will be available in Washington state. It's planning to add in-person services to cities including Washington, D.C., its second headquarters, and Baltimore as well as other cities this year, the company said.
"Amazon Benefits has been the enterprise customer that we've been serving to date. Now, looking at other enterprises, understanding their needs, we think a lot of the needs are similar," Kristen Helton, director of Amazon Care, told CNBC's Bertha Coombs.
Amazon Care began as an effort to address employees' urgent care needs for Amazon employees in Seattle and later Washington state. Launching Amazon Care nationally is the first time that Amazon has put a stake in the ground in healthcare delivery, not just pills and devices.
It's the first time that the company has made clear the purpose behind Amazon Care, which is to not just serve Amazon's own employees but also stand up a lucrative healthcare business in the $3.8 trillion healthcare industry, while solving for other employers their shared cost headaches.
The healthcare industry is taking notice to Amazon's ambitions in medical care. On Wednesday morning after the national expansion became official, telehealth company Teladoc sank more than 7%, while rival Amwell was down more than 5%.