It’s no secret that America’s healthcare system is broken.
Americans, on average, pay $6,720 per year in healthcare premiums alone. After that, they must deal with copays, mandatory out-of-pocket minimums and dozens of other expenses. And even people who are insured can end up with a costly surgery that saddles them with debt for life.
But a number of startups and industry titans are working to disrupt the industry to make healthcare more affordable. While there isn’t a clear answer, a number of companies are chipping away at issues in the healthcare industry.
Even something as basic as a bare-bones wheelchair could run someone as much as $5,000. Basic wheelchairs lack tons of vital features, and their prices are inflated because of a broken, exploitative system.
One startup, ABBY by GoGoTech, realized the injustice and decided to make a wheelchair with significantly more features that cost as much as 40% less. An ABBY wheelchair has power assist, self-propulsion, reverse cameras, a modular battery and a mobile app that can remotely control and manage the wheelchair as well as a host of other features. ABBY already has a waitlist of over 1,000 people and has a Wefunder campaign live to raise the money that will help it help meet demand. Wefunder is a startup investing platform available to everyone, which means anyone can invest in ABBY for a limited time.
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Hundreds of startups are solving similar issues in the healthcare industry on a single-item basis. From robots that can perform surgery to help increase volume and reduce costs to the growing prominence of telehealth, the $800 billion U.S. healthcare industry is packed with innovation and disruptors.
On a larger scale, industry titans like Amazon.com Inc. AMZN and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban have begun taking on the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. These two industry titans both recently launched pharmacies with generic drugs at rock-bottom prices.
Amazon recently launched Amazon Pharmacy as a means of getting low-cost generic drugs shipped to your doorstep. Amazon also went a step further and launched RxPass, a monthly subscription that allows you to get all of your eligible prescriptions shipped to your door every month — no matter how many prescriptions you have — for $5 per month. This could save consumers hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month in prescription costs and reshape the entire pharmaceutical industry.
Cuban is doing something similar to Amazon with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company. Every medication on its website is the cost of the drug plus a 15% markup and $5 for shipping. The transparent pricing model means pharmacies and insurance companies aren’t taking their cuts, and consumers are getting the lowest prices possible. But some drugs on Amazon still accept insurance, with many being a bit more expensive on Amazon’s site.
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