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WONDERY, I'm David Brown and this is

1:02

Business Wars Daily on this Wednesday, April

1:05

Last fall, we told you about

1:07

a new partnership between Costco and

1:09

a telehealth platform called Sesame, which

1:11

connects medical providers with patients nationwide.

1:14

It meant that in addition to bulk paper

1:16

towels, patio furniture, and hot dogs, Costco

1:19

members, all 130 million

1:21

of them, could have access to low-cost

1:23

telehealth care. Around two

1:25

months after the announcement, however,

1:27

Costco and Sesame noticed something.

1:30

Sesame co-founder and president Michael Bada

1:32

told CNN that one in five

1:34

inquiries from patients using the program

1:37

was about one thing, weight

1:39

loss. Weight loss wasn't

1:41

the sole point of the initial partnership,

1:43

Bada said, but when more and

1:46

more customers asked about it, the wheels started

1:48

turning. The result? A renewable

1:50

three-month program officially launched last

1:52

week. Costco members can

1:55

now access video consults with doctors, prescriptions

1:57

for weight loss drugs and ongoing support,

1:59

and more. through unlimited messaging

2:01

and guidance from healthcare providers.

2:04

Costco plans to offer oral weight

2:06

loss medication in addition to injectable

2:09

semiglutides, Ozempic, Wigovi, and the

2:11

like. The catch is that

2:14

the cost of that medication is not included in

2:16

the new plan, which costs around $180 every three

2:18

months. The

2:21

cost of the injectable semiglutides can range between

2:23

$950 and $1600 a month without

2:27

insurance, which this Sesame-Costco

2:30

partnership does not take. Still,

2:33

executives hope that the program can help serve members

2:35

looking for accessible out-of-pocket

2:37

healthcare and draw in new

2:40

cardholders, of course. Around the

2:42

time that Costco rolled out its telehealth

2:44

program last fall, another big name was

2:47

launching its direct-to-consumer healthcare platform nationwide. That

2:50

big name is Amazon, which by the way

2:52

is the parent company of Wondering. Amazon's

2:54

telehealth clinic gives patients 24-7 access to providers,

2:58

and like Costco's offerings, isn't covered

3:01

by insurance. And

3:03

now Amazon's pharmacy division, which was launched in

3:05

2020, is making

3:07

similar moves to Costco's. Amazon

3:09

Pharmacy has just teamed up directly

3:11

with Eli Lilly to, you guessed

3:13

it, sell more injectable weight loss

3:15

drugs. Eli Lilly is

3:17

the maker of Ozempic and its counterpart,

3:19

Zepbound. It used to be that Lilly

3:21

would stock places like CVS and Walmart with its products,

3:24

which would then be prescribed to patients. Now

3:27

Lilly is moving towards skipping the middleman and

3:29

going direct-to-consumer with the

3:31

help of Amazon Pharmacy. The idea

3:33

is that Amazon has reach and

3:35

lots of it. So

3:38

they're thinking, why not use it to get these

3:40

drugs into the hands of more people? Lilly

3:43

isn't Amazon Pharmacy's only partnership. It recently struck

3:45

a deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield of

3:47

Florida, which made Amazon its

3:49

default home delivery option. It

3:52

also has a similar deal with Blue Cross Blue

3:54

Shield of California. The popularity

3:56

of weight loss drugs has exploded, and it

3:58

doesn't seem to be slowing down. anytime soon,

4:01

which means for platforms like Sesame

4:03

and Amazon, weight loss could

4:06

be a big win. From

4:10

Wondery, this is Business Wars Daily. I'm

4:12

your host David Brown, written and produced

4:14

by Jessica Mormosky. Our executive producers

4:17

are Tina Rubio and Marshall Lewis. Hey

4:34

Prime members, you can listen to

4:36

Business Wars Daily ad-free on Amazon

4:38

Music. Download the Amazon Music app

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today or you can listen ad-free

4:42

with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts.

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Before you go, tell us about

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