Amazon and CVS Health are now both in the business of caring for Medicare patients, with each having a line of healthcare clinics specifically for seniors.
When Amazon acquired One Medical and its more than 200 hybrid primary care clinics in February for $3.9 billion, it also picked up a line of senior-focused healthcare centers. In 2021, One Medical bought Iora Health, a primary care company specializing in older adults, for $2.1 billion.
One Medical now has 46 clinics that exclusively treat patients 65 and older in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas and Washington.
CVS, meanwhile, purchased Oak Street Health and its clinics serving Medicare patients for $10.6 billion in May. Oak Street Health now has more than 170 offices and will be in 25 states by the end of this year. CVS plans to open 50 to 60 Oak Street clinics next year, some of them co-located at CVS Pharmacies.
"Today, there are approximately 1 million Medicare-eligible seniors who visit CVS pharmacies each week that are located near an Oak Street clinic," CVS President and CEO Karen Lynch said in a recent earnings call.
CVS has another advantage after landing home health company Signify Health in March for $8 billion: It can now bring care to seniors right where they live. Signify has performed more than 2.5 million in-home health risk assessments for older adults, CVS said Aug. 9.