Costco enters the health world: It will now offer medical consultations

2023-09-26 20:00:00

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, a new value has been given to health.
To attract consumers, Costco joined forces with the hospital chain Sesame to offer virtual medical consultations at affordable prices.
It is currently considered the second largest self-service chain in the world, just below Walmart.

Health is the most important part of a person but it is also a million-dollar business. More and more companies from all sectors are entering this field and the most recent is Costco because it will now offer medical consultations at affordable prices. With this, it joins other competitors such as Walmart, Soriana and Chedraui that have taken the same path.

The news was announced by Bloomberg and in this first stage it only includes USA. Based on what was published, this service aims to attract more people to subscribe to this retail chain and enjoy the new benefit.

Costco now offers its members an exclusive healthcare perk in all 50 states, providing access to discounted outpatient medical care through a partnership with healthcare startup Sesame.

— Entrepreneur (@Entrepreneur) September 26, 2023

The medical consultation service that will be offered Costco It will be possible thanks to an alliance signed with the hospital chain Sesame that will contribute to the doctors.

Types and prices of medical services to be offered

According to the plan, all services will be virtual so that it is not necessary to go directly to the stores. In exchange for a subscription of $29, you will be able to access general medical consultations; Medical check-ups will cost $72 and mental health consultations will cost $79.

For his part, this news comes after the founder of Sesame, David Goldhill, has constantly criticized the American health system. In 2009 The Atlantic wrote the article How American Health Care Killed My Father in which he questions the high prices of medical care.

In this regard, one of the maxims contradictions of the American Union is that it has the best medical universities and the best hospitals in the world although they are not accessible to everyone. Health is one of the most expensive goods for any citizen because all services are too expensive.

For their part, there are insurance companies, although the problem is the same because you must pay large monthly payments to belong to any company and have coverage for any eventuality.

General medical consultations accessible to all

Based on the above, alternatives have emerged such as first contact medical consultations at affordable prices. They are distributed throughout the United States and are much cheaper than going to private hospitals.

For now, it has not yet been announced whether the virtual medical consultations that Costco will offer will be extended to other countries such as Mexico. It all depends on the initial reception of this new program to request permits from the corresponding authorities such as the Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris).

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