Affordable healthcare options for Texans that don’t require insurance

Under emergency health declarations during the pandemic, telehealth benefits skyrocketed. Since then, Congress voted to extend those benefits.

However, the convenience and affordability of current healthcare have sparked more companies to offer health services without insurance.

This month, Texans gained the ability to visit a doctor through the delivery service Amazon. On their website or app, you can click “clinic” to set up, or link it to an Amazon account. A doctor can then call you the same day. It’s $30 a visit, and no insurance is needed, in fact, it’s not even taken.

“We want to achieve your health and wellness goals to be as easy, fast, and affordable as any other experience you’ve come to expect from Amazon,” said Dr. Nworah Ayogu, Chief Medical Officer and General Manager for the Amazon Clinic.

More tech companies and doctors are coming up with ways to provide healthcare while ditching insurance.

Direct primary care, like Meridian Springs, collects a monthly fee for more access to your doctor. Again, no insurance is required. Meridian Springs charges a monthly fee of $75 per person or $160 for a family of four.

Wake up sick on Thanksgiving, over the weekend or after hours? Just send them a text!

Need prescription drugs? They can do that too.

Other tech companies are also quickly growing in the variety of drugs they can get you cheaper too.

Mark Cuban formed his own pharmacy called Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. The Dallas-based company promises to deliver prescriptions at a fixed 15% margin, and therefore still gets you drugs that are dozens, if not hundreds, of dollars cheaper.

Dr. Renee Dua opened a similar online pharmacy where patients pay in the subscription. For $25 a month, on Renee.com you can access hundreds of common prescriptions.

“Diabetic medications, hypertensive medications, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, cancers, birth control, men’s health,” Dr. Dua explained. “Maybe a patient has seven medications, and we cover five of them and it’s still way cheaper to work with us.”

These options are not for everyone. If you have a severe chronic condition that requires intensive cancer treatments or dialysis, this would not be for you.

However, it goes to show that companies are desperately searching outside of the box to make common healthcare issues more affordable and compete with traditional healthcare services.

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