Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan Chase are teaming up to reduce health care costs for their own employees.

Among the likely big winners: Telemedicine companies like Teladoc and American Well.

Start-ups that offer virtual care as an alternative to sending an employee to a physical doctor's office, will likely play a big role in lowering costs. These companies have spent the past decade pushing for federal and state governments to provide clinicians with a way to bill their patients for consultations conducted via video or over the phone, and have made some major progress.

These apps provide a first-step alternative to visiting a doctor in person, which is a real hardship for many Americans living in rural areas. Because they live so far from doctors, a lot of people in rural areas delay or avoid doctor's visits until they're really sick.