Yahoo Finance Jeff Bezos and Tony Robbins Are Investing in a Surprising Industry — Can You Afford To Buy In?
Billionaire Jeff Bezos and personal development guru Tony Robbins both recently announced new companies with a focus on healthcare. However, they each serve very different demographics of customers with dramatically different services.
See: Tony Robbins’ 10 Best Cheap Cities with a High Quality of Life
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True to their other business endeavors, Bezos is aiming to bring convenience and lower costs to healthcare for everyday people.
Robbins, on the other hand, has launched a biohacking start-up. Lifeforce, founded by Robbins along with scientist and XPRIZE Foundation chair Peter Diamandis and Dugal Bain-Kim, who hold the title of CEO at Lifeforce, is a “health optimization company” for people age 35+.
Let’s compare the services both companies offer, the costs, and which one (or both) might be right for you!
Amazon Clinic Brings Affordable Health Care to Your Home
In much the same way Amazon revolutionized e-commerce, Bezos is looking to do the same for telehealth. After its launch in 2022, Amazon Clinic has rolled out in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
Amazon Clinic provides telehealth services with transparent pricing. If a provider prescribes medication, you can fill the prescription through Amazon Pharmacy with free shipping or, to receive it faster, have your prescription filled at a local pharmacy of choice and pick it up.
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To use the service, visit clinic.amazon.com. Choose your symptoms from a long list, and then choose your state. You will see the average wait time, plus the cost of a consultation via messenger or a video visit from different virtual providers licensed in your state.
Costs are not covered by insurance and do not include the price of medication. However, you can use your FSA or HSA to cover the costs. The average price is $35 for a messaging-based consultation, and $75 for a video visit, according to the Amazon website.
Lifeforce Brings Biohacking to the Masses
Unlike Amazon Clinic, which provides urgent care for everyday health matters, Lifeforce is designed to help people optimize their health as they age. Its customer base is not “the average adult going to a primary care doctor for a physical once a year,” according to an article at dot.LA.
Rather, it’s for health-motivated adults age 35+ who want to better understand their bodies and how they can live a healthier life.
Lifeforce costs $349 upfront for a battery of blood tests, and then $129 monthly for the subscription service. The subscription service does not include the costs of supplements or additional therapies. Lifeforce is not (yet) covered by insurance, although Bain-Kim told Dot.LA that he hopes it will be reimbursed by insurance providers within the next couple of years.
Considering the average “concierge longevity practice” charges $50,000 to $100,000, annually, Bain-Kim told Dot.LA, Lifeforce’s annual fee of roughly $1,897 is much more affordable to many middle-income Americans.
Bain-Kim pointed out that the supplements, treatments and recommendations are not “trying to be on the bleeding edge.” Rather, Lifeforce seeks to bring mainstream biohacking to those who may not have previously had access.
Which Service Is For You?
If you are looking for easy and affordable diagnoses and treatments for common ailments, especially if you lack health insurance, Amazon Clinic could be the answer. If the idea of receiving antibiotics for an ear infection or a prescription for allergy medication within hours sounds useful, Amazon Clinic can help.
On the other hand, if you are curious about how factors such as your metabolism, hormones and nutrients in your body affect your health and well-being — and how you can improve these factors — it might be worth looking into Lifeforce.
After all, according to one Zippia study, the average American household spends $297 per month ($3,564 annually) on entertainment. If you want to allocate a portion of that toward feeling better, Lifeforce might be a solid investment in your future.
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