Have you always wished that you could just order your healthcare on Amazon?
Have you always wished that you could just order your healthcare on Amazon?
Well...you're in luck.
trust
trŭst
noun
Firm belief in the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing; confidence or reliance.
The condition and resulting obligation of having confidence placed in one.
One in which confidence is placed.
antitrust
ăn″tē-trŭst′, ăn″tī-
adjective
Opposing or intended to regulate business monopolies, such as trusts or cartels, especially in the interest of promoting competition.
Certain acts are considered so harmful to competition that they are almost always illegal. These include plain arrangements among competing individuals or businesses to fix prices, divide markets, or rig bids. These acts are "per se" violations of the Sherman Act; in other words, no defense or justification is allowed.
Under federal law, the maximum fine may be increased to twice the amount the conspirators gained from the illegal acts or twice the money lost by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is over $100 million.
The Clayton Act addresses specific practices that which the Sherman Act does not clearly prohibit, such as mergers and interlocking directorates (that is, the same person making business decisions for competing companies). Section 7 of the Clayton Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions where the effect "may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly." As amended by the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, the Clayton Act also bans certain discriminatory prices, services, and allowances in dealings between merchants.
Have you heard about something called the globalist agenda? Have you heard about the WHO? Vaccine Passports? What about CBDC? If you haven’t, lemme hit the high points:
They are trying to move us into a one world government
They would like to be able to track and trace our every move, every data point
physical, social, and most importantly biological
And control all of our money
So that They can control our behavior by a push of a button
by turning your money off
or maybe your car
or your power
Medicine and emergencies; and especially medical emergencies (BONUS if they are of international concern) are the means to the global agenda’s end
FEAR - this is the ace in their back pocket…fear breeds compliance
fear of viruses, pandemics, war, hate, politics, misinformation, etc
Merging technology and healthcare would make all of these things
INFINITELY EASIER.
Lucky for us, they are well on their way:
So there was that merger that was clearly NOT in violation of antitrust stuff. Because that Judge (who was only compromised a few different ways) said so. Who cares about that anyway? Antitrust schmantitrust.
“Together, we believe we can make the health care experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone”
Oh good! Easier, faster, more personal, AND more convenient?!?!? For everyone???? That sounds super attainable…and typically what happens when two giant companies merge under suspicions of antitrust violations. Especially when their current scopes are pretty much completely unrelated. Hide your excitement, folks, this sounds like a recipe for profits success! Gosh, I wonder if we could merge the garbage company with the food supply next.
👍🏼👍🏼
the AHA said the merger threatened to reduce competition for the sale of healthcare information technology services to hospitals and other providers.
The deal would result in a large-scale consolidation of competitively sensitive healthcare data and make it available to UnitedHealthcare, the nation's largest insurer. This could distort decisions about patient care, claims processing and denials, while increasing UnitedHealth Group's considerable market power, according to the AHA.
Isn’t Amazon already under antitrust investigation?
It sure is! The FTC has been probing Amazon since June 2019 at least, and the investigations are reportedly still going strong.
Amazon is was also in trouble with Congress. A House committee probing Big Tech issued a blockbuster report in late 2020 accusing Amazon of abusing its “monopoly power,” and saying the company should be split. (Apple, Alphabet and the company now known as Meta also got dinged in that report.) The House Judiciary Committee also recently asked the Justice Department to probe if Amazon had been truthful during the course of the investigation leading to that report.
Andy Jassy’s got 99 antitrust problems, but One Medical probably won’t be one.
Amazon closes $3.9B One Medical deal as it builds out healthcare strategy
FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar told the WSJ that the commission "will continue to look at possible harms to competition created by this merger as well as possible harms to consumers that may result from Amazon’s control and use of sensitive consumer health information held by One Medical.”
Sounds promising, Doug. You keep up posted, k?
I wonder how Mr. Farrar’s time at the Aspen Institute and The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace helped prepare him for his job at the Federal Trade Commission? Probably didn’t.
✅ Amazon's relentless push to become a primary care provider reached a milestone recently when the e-commerce giant completed its acquisition of One Medical for $3.9 billion on Mar 7, 2023
Big Tech Merging with Healthcare…What Could Possibly Go Wrong???
The federal government has taken a look at several high-profile healthcare mergers in the last year, particularly those that include vertical integration. In June, the FTC asked for more information on UnitedHealth Group’s proposed $5.4 billion acquisition of home health provider LHC Group. In October, the Department of Justice probed CVS Health’s potential $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health, a tech company that provides home health risk assessments.
Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said the FTC may look at companies sharing patient data with third parties as an anti-competitive practice and use it as a reason to stop these proposed mergers.
“These combinations are going to bring up a whole new host of antitrust questions,” Gordon said.
Just before the acquisition was finalized, One Medical released its earnings report. Although the company has yet to turn a profit, its revenue for 2022 was up 68% from the previous year, at $1.05 billion. Its net loss for the year was $397.8 million. (source)
I guess all that concern with Amazon and antitrust concerns was no big deal. Who cares? Moving on….
One Reason Mergers Fail: The Two Cultures Aren’t Compatible
Oh, you mean like, your online Dorito and underwear ordering service merging with your DOCTOR isn’t intuitive? It’s exactly like Amazon’s merger with Whole Foods…except instead of merging overpriced organic shit, it merges the management of your organs and bodily functions. No biggie.
Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods was met with a lot of fanfare. The deal would allow Amazon to grow beyond e-commerce and sell groceries in hundreds of stores while collecting significant shopper data. Meanwhile, Whole Foods could lower its prices (organic avocados for just $1.69!) and scale up after its recent declines in sales and market share. In the words of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, the partnership was “love at first sight.”
A year later, such optimism seems hard to find at Whole Foods. Stories of employees literally crying on the job over Amazon’s changes have begun circulating. Scorecards measuring compliance with a new inventory system are used to punish and sometimes terminate workers. A group of Whole Foods employees have recently taken steps to explore unionizing. Even customers — the stakeholders that Amazon values the most — have been angry over poorly stocked stores.
When Amazon made its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017, the Seattle e-commerce giant vowed to make the natural and organic grocer’s products “affordable for everyone.” But that promise still appears to be a work in progress.
A work in progress…you know what’s more fun than a work in progress with your food? A work in progress with your healthcare.
“Still a work in progress”
Gotta admit, it’s got a nice ring.
UnitedHealth Group’s Profits Hit $5.2 Billion As Optum And Health Plans Roll
STFU. They are making money on this?!?!?
For many, high-speed broadband internet has incredible implications for connectivity. One of the most important potential benefits of this technology may be its impact on healthcare and access-to-care in underserved areas.
Experts have articulated that the rise of telemedicine may be one possible solution to help with this issue. Digital platforms that can effectively and safely deliver healthcare without regard to distance or location can potentially provide a viable solution to connecting underserved populations with the care they need. The Covid-19 pandemic has been a great test of this technology. As stay-at-home and social distancing orders became the norm this year due to coronavirus, many healthcare systems, and in-turn patients, often had to rely on telehealth for their care needs.
In fact, studies indicate that the telehealth market is poised for a 25.2% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) and a valuation of nearly $559.5 billion by 2027.
Furthermore, the applications of this technology are endless and go far beyond the American paradigm of rural healthcare. Starlink’s concept, if proven to be scalable and effective, may be able to one day provide internet worldwide, providing the opportunity for underserved communities across the globe to receive much needed medical attention.(source)
Technology Companies Are Betting On A Healthcare Revolution: Bringing Hospital Care To The Patient’s Home
And rest assured that QUALITY is their #1 concern.
Quick wrap up…
Amazon is doing healthcare now. They’re going to be much gooder at this than they were at healthy food.
And they aren’t violating shit, fools. Douglas Farrar, director of the FTC says so.
And he would know because he used to work for The Aspen Institute and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, both of which are well funded by the Saviors of the World: Bill & Melinda Gates, Rockefellars, Blackrock, Vanguard, Facebook, Twitter, and you name it, they’re probably on the list. But he probably didn’t have any interaction with any of those folks and probably had no incentive to see this thing through.
Last thing…
You know that silly Hands In Both Pots theory I’ve got going?
Hand One:
United Health Group + Optum
Hand Two:
One Medical + Amazon
So you’ll have your freedom to choose, don’t worry.
You can have Hand One or Hand Two.
Like when you ask your kid, "Do you want to tie your shoes by yourself, or do you want me to do it?” or “Do you want carrots or celery with your sandwich, Jane?”
Either way, Jane ends up with her shoes tied and a vegetable at lunch.
But she didn’t fight it because she “felt” like she had a choice when there never really was a choice at all.
Sort of looks like the media pot.
And the mRNA cancer cure pot.
Weird.
Stay on your toes, y’all. Play the long game.
stay healthy like your life depends on it!
S,
Very good article. I think you are right on 🎯 ; unfortunately.
Remarkable insight. I bet you are always hoping you are wrong, like I do routinely, hope I am wrong. That has to do something to the Psyche after a while. Guess we will find out.
Some people call us pessimists (= frustrated optimists)
🥂
💪