Teladoc drops on report that Amazon is building a business to offer primary care for other companies
- Teladoc fell 6% on Wednesday following a Business Insider report that Amazon is quietly building a business to offer primary healthcare services for other large employers.
- An extension of Amazon Care, the service would offer in-person and online doctor visits that could be scheduled through a mobile app, according to the report.
- Shares of health-insurance stocks also fell, with UnitedHealth Group and Cigna dropping as much as 2%.
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Shares of Teladoc and health-insurance providers fell on Wednesday following a report from Business Insider that said Amazon was quietly building a healthcare service for employees of other large companies.
An extension of Amazon Care, the service would offer in-person and online doctor visits that could be scheduled through a mobile app, according to the report. The service would bypass health-insurance plans and brokers and could help to lower the cost of healthcare.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Business Insider reported that Amazon had already pitched the service to Zillow. It was unclear how many other companies were pitched.
Zillow confirmed that it was pitched the Amazon Care service, but it said nothing came of it, according to the report.
Amazon's push into healthcare services has been years in the making, most recently marked by the e-commerce giant's launch of an online pharmacy this year. That move sent pharmacy stocks like CVS and Walgreens substantially lower.
Something similar played out on Wednesday with Teladoc, which helps to facilitate doctor visits via video calls. Shares of Teladoc fell as much as 6%.
Health-insurance stocks also fell following the report; shares of UnitedHealth Group and Cigna were down as much as 2%. Shares of Amazon traded up nearly 1%.
