Amazon Care

The HIPAA-compliant Skills capabilities were launched in 2019 to help patients connect with hospitals and health insurers using Alexa.

The virtual care platform will provide services for nonurgent health and lifestyle needs.

The health insurer's members will receive free home delivery for common medications through Amazon Pharmacy.

Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, said the telehealth service was "not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting, and wasn’t going to work long-term."

A live website about the offerings also details a partnership with digital mental health company Ginger.

This week's top stories include racial and ethnic minority enrollees reporting significantly worse experiences around care access compared to whites, and Amazon Care expanding in-person offerings to 20 new cities.

The tech and retail giant said in-person offerings will be available in more than 20 new cities in 2022, including San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and New York.

Alexa made moves into health systems and elder care, a new Halo wearable was released and the Amazon Care virtual care service began its expansion this year.

This week's top stories include Amazon expanding its hybrid virtual/in-person care; Cityblock raising money to expand its platform for Medicaid and low-income populations; and AHIP wanting more time for insurers to implement a surprise billing rule.

This week's top stories include Amazon expanding its Amazon Care telehealth services, Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds forming a virtual healthcare company, and the Biden administration releasing $12 billion for COVID-19 testing and treatments.