An In-Depth Look at Amazon One Medical

Before Amazon One Medical came to life, One Medical and Iora Health were two different companies. One Medical was a membership-based primary care provider that offered telehealth and in-person services for its customers of any and all ages. Iora Health was a service that primarily worked with adults 65 and older who were on Medicare.

Iora Health specialized in personal and close-knit relationships with each patient. Each patient had a team of healthcare workers that consisted of a doctor, a nurse, and a health coach with the aim of tailoring each patient’s needs individually and as they progressed.

In 2021, One Medical acquired Iora Health, citing the ability to “extend its reach from children to adults to even more seniors across 28 existing and announced combined geographies encompassing approximately 40% of the US population.” Meanwhile, Amazon was slowly building its healthcare services like Amazon Clinic and Amazon Pharmacy.

In 2023, Amazon acquired One Medical and rebranded to Amazon One Medical in 2024.

One Medical and Amazon were aligned on delivering “exceptional healthcare to more people to achieve better health outcomes, better care experiences, and more value within a better care team environment.” And so, Amazon One Medical was born.

Today, Amazon One Medical is a primary care platform that offers membership-based healthcare services for three different age groups, in-office or virtually, and offers care for a variety of health conditions, including sexual health, everyday care, mental health, and more.

We break it down further as you follow along.

Amazon One Medical offers a variety of ways to work with you to start preventive care, from diet and nutrition counseling to screening tests, vaccines, and travel health. They also focus on men’s and women’s health exclusively while also offering parenting classes, coaching for nursing infants, infant care, and more.

One Medical also offers a “Live Well” visit, a physical different from a traditional PCP visit. Amazon One Medical takes a holistic approach to this annual physical. They encourage the patient to come with all questions, from sexual health and nutrition to mental health, so you can build a relationship with your healthcare professional.

If you don’t have a Prime account or don’t want to pay for an Amazon One Medical membership, One Medical offers a “pay-per-visit” plan, but you only have 14 days after your visit to ask any follow-up questions.

Amazon One Medical is an app-based telehealth platform, so you can message your provider with follow-up questions as they send you action plans and next steps.

You can also choose your healthcare professionals, which can ensure that you’re getting care from a healthcare professional who best suits your needs. You can search by location, ages seen (e.g., ages 65+, children, teens), or by name. Each professional has a photo and an ‘about’ page that you can explore for more information about them.

The services offered for LGBTQIA+ folks are the same at baseline. However, Amazon One Medical acknowledges that the LGBTQIA+ community may need extra support in some areas, especially if they’ve previously had poor care.

One Medical “believes healthcare should be inclusive, affirming, and available to all.” Amazon One Medical can offer family planning guidance, preventive care, PrEP, hormone therapy, referrals for gender affirming surgical care, and more.

While this service is not for more severe conditions, “everyday care” can help individuals manage colds or flu, skin rashes, headaches, upset stomachs, and more. It can also help with any travel questions and vaccinations. After you fill out a questionnaire, a provider will contact you with everything you need to be ready to travel.

Urgent care is also offered 24/7 through One Medical virtual care, but select locations of Amazon One Medical offices have expanded hours and open days so you or a loved one can see a PCP the same or next day.

• San Francisco Bay Area, CA: 10 locations
• New York, NY: 7 locations
• Los Angeles, CA: 1 location

You have the option to schedule a same-day or next-day in-office appointment (if you’re in a location that has an office) or a virtual visit.

Though there is no specific page dedicated to sexual health, it is enforced in wellness, prevention, and everyday care.

If you have any concerns about sexual health, you can fill out a questionnaire and make an appointment to see a PCP who can better guide you on the best plan of action.

PCPs, nurses, care navigators, and coaches are part of a team that helps personalize a care plan for people who manage chronic conditions.

The plan can include features like group classes, educational resources, coordinating with specialists, and more. The team also looks at chronic conditions through a holistic lens, considering mental health, nutrition, exercise, and diet while creating and changing an action plan.

Some conditions Amazon One Medical can help manage are diabetes and prediabetes, hypertension, lipid management, heart disease, and more.

One Medical PCPs can prescribe and monitor medications if you start a new dose or are starting a medication for the first time. They can also help with most common mental health concerns like sleep, stress management, anxiety, depression, sleep issues, and more.

However, these mental health services are through PCPs. If you or your PCP decide you need more specialized care, they can help refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Because of its distinct segments, Amazon One Medical splits up its care system into three different groups. This helped keep Iora Health’s mission of serving adults 65 and over who are on Medicare. One Medical’s mission was serving a larger population nationwide, so it’s broken up into adults and family care.

The services offered for adults under 65 are the general and baseline services offered to all care groups. Because Amazon One Medical uses a membership-based payment model, the services available to this group range from 24/7 virtual care to same- and next-day appointments.

Amazon One Medical care for adults 65 and over is very similar to Iora Health methods before they were acquired. The care is still comprehensive — all older adults are given a care team that consists of their PCP, a health coach, and other healthcare professionals who can change as needed.

There is also a dedicated care team for people who are on Medicare and a 24/7 phone line to access a PCP.

The primary care program for adults 65 and older accepts folks who have original Medicare, most Medicare supplement plans, and some Medicare Advantage plans. They even have a Medicare insurance finder you can use to search if your plan is qualified for Amazon One Medical.

Amazon One Medical’s focus on child and family care stems from knowing that parent and child needs are flexible and can happen at any hour during the day.

Because family care is included in the membership, parents have access to 24/7 video chat with PCPs who can help and point in the right direction, whether that’s a referral, a prescription, or an in-person appointment.

Family practice offices are also constructed and designed with children in mind. There are amenities like stroller parking, a nursing area, and children’s books in the lobby.

In addition to in-person and virtual healthcare services, Amazon One Medical can help with your child’s growth and nutrition, offering parenting support from newborn care, including lactation and bottle feeding to support with potty training and sleep.

Amazon One Medical’s pricing information is straightforward. There are two subscription models, both offering the same care benefits.

1. If you are an Amazon Prime Member:
   • You pay $9 per month or $99 per year.
   • You can add up to five family members on your plan for $6 per person.
2. If you are not an Amazon Prime Member:
   • You pay $199 per year (roughly $16.50 per month).

If you cannot afford the membership fee or don’t have other financial means, there are alternative payment options available. Amazon One Medical offers financial assistance, but you need to provide pay stubs, tax returns, and W2s and fill out a financial assistance application.

If you do not qualify, you can contact One Medical’s customer service department to find a plan or option that best suits your needs.

If you do qualify for financial assistance, you will need to reapply every 12 months after your initial eligibility.

Amazon One Medical does accept a variety of insurance plans, including Medicare, some Medicare supplement plans, and some types of Medicare Advantage plans.

If you do not have or want an Amazon One Medical account or membership, you can still access virtual care. One Medical offers a pay-per-visit model for people without a One Medical membership for ages 18 to 64, only in the United States.

This pay-per-visit model can be accessed 24/7 by message or video, and you can get care for more than 30 common health conditions. Message visits are about $29 per visit, but the cost can vary by state. A video visit can be $49 per visit.

After receiving your visit and treatment plan from your healthcare professional, you have 14 days to contact your healthcare professional for any follow-up questions.

These visits are FSA/HSA eligible and insurance is not accepted nor required. You do not need to be an Amazon Prime member to use the pay-per-visit feature.

Since Amazon One Medical launched in 2023, there have been few reviews in mainstream media about how people feel about the care they’re getting, especially from trustworthy sources.

Since Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical, they have been under scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the basis that this acquisition could lead them to “entrench its economic dominance, but also fears that its acquisition of valuable health data could lead to the misuse of that information for other purposes,” says an article by Brian Fung at CNN.

There could also be concern over how Amazon handles sensitive patient information and the quality of care after it took over One Medical. The Washington Post published a story in 2024 that shared leaked documents from Amazon One Medical about how its new call centers may not be handling medical issues correctly.

Shortly after One Medical’s acquisition, it decided to route the calls of adults 65 and over from their designated senior care line to a call center in Arizona. The Washington Post, INC.com, and PBS share that some people’s symptoms were not properly flagged or taken care of because the training the call center staff received was not comprehensive enough.

Amazon has since acknowledged its error and has taken proper measures to train the call center staff in more detail.

Because Amazon One Medical offers a variety of care and has 24/7 access for people who have a membership and for people who don’t have insurance, One Medical virtual and messaging visits could be best for non-serious conditions like a cold or flu, health advice, family support, and 24/7 messaging for those middle-of-the-night panic situations.

One Medical’s physical appointments also seem like a good alternative if you feel like you are not getting good facetime with your healthcare professional.

Though Amazon One Medical does offer chronic condition management and mental health services, these conditions may require more expertise than One Medical can provide. Though you can search for PCPs on Amazon One Medical’s site, you cannot filter by specialty.

Mental health is also a very delicate and personal topic. If you’re in need of more than a preliminary look at online therapy services, One Medical may not offer the best treatment for you.