It’s the stuff disruptors dream of. A group of Seattle doctors and investors had a plan to revolutionize primary care by freeing themselves, and their patients, from the dictates of insurance. They would charge a monthly membership fee for delivering on-demand medical services. No insurance bureaucracy. No reimbursement delays. No incomprehensible bills.
In 2010, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became one of the project’s biggest investors, providing an infusion of capital and the instant credibility his name conveys. The company, called Qliance, scored early successes in Seattle but faltered amid a series of financial setbacks. It closed its doors last summer.
Since then, however, the concept behind Qliance, known as direct primary care, has spread to communities and businesses across the country. And now many of the company’s backers, including those with long relationships with Bezos, are imploring him to incorporate these ideas into Amazon’s effort to reinvent U.S. health care with JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway.
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