Amazon has closed on its $3.9B acquisition of 1Life Healthcare Inc, the parent of primary care provider One Medical, shortly after the Federal Trade Commission said it would not sue to try and block the deal.
Amazon has said that One Medical’s "human-centered and technology-powered" offerings will help it improve the health care experience.
One Medical operates a network of primary care practices in more than 20 U.S. markets. Customers pay a subscription fee to access physicians in person as well as through on-demand telehealth services via an app.
- Following the deal's closure, Amazon said it will lower the price for a subscription in the U.S. to $144 from $199 for the first year.
- The FTC began investigating the deal last year but passed the deadline to file a lawsuit in an attempt to block the acquisition.
- However, the commission will still look into the deal's potential to harm competition and consumers through "Amazon’s control and use of sensitive consumer health information held by One Medical,” FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar told the Wall Street Journal.
It is Amazon's third-biggest acquisition after Whole Foods ($13.7B) in 2017 and MGM ($8.45B) last year.
- Amazon signaled its health care ambitions when it acquired PillPack in 2018 for $750M. In 2019, it launched an app-based telehealth service for its workers, which it later expanded nationwide with both virtual and in-person options, and launched its online pharmacy subsidiary in 2020.
