Amazon is adding a prescription drug discount program to its growing healthcare business.
The retail giant announced Tuesday that it will launch RxPass, a subscription service for customers with Prime memberships. Amazon says people will pay him $5 a month to create as many prescriptions as they need from a list of about 50 generic drugs.
The company said it could cover a list of drugs such as the antibiotic amoxicillin and the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen for a flat fee.
Sildenafil is also on the list. It is used to treat erectile dysfunction under the brand name Viagra and is also used to treat high blood pressure.
Amazon sells a variety of generic medicines through its pharmacy services. With some already as low as $1 for 30 days of supply, the benefits of this new program will vary from customer to customer.
The new program does not use insurance and is not eligible for government-funded Medicaid or Medicare. At launch, it will be available in 42 states and Washington DC.
Programs that bring lower-priced generic drugs to more patients are “a good thing,” said Karen Van Nuys, an economist who studies drug pricing at the University of Southern California. But she added that she doesn’t know how much impact RxPass will have.
She said the program is exclusive to Amazon Prime customers. Other options like Mark Cuban CostPlus Drug Co. sell more generic drugs, many of which are under $5.
“I don’t know that it’s expanding access to a new set of patients,” Van Nuys said.
Still, the move, though not always successful in its aims, could help the company take up more space in the healthcare market. We closed our hybrid virtual home care service called Amazon Care because we couldn’t. Haven, the company Amazon co-founded with his JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway to improve healthcare costs, also dissolved a year before him.
Amazon says its online drugstore, Amazon Pharmacy, is a key part of its healthcare plan, along with primary care organization One Medical, which it is looking to acquire for $3.9 billion. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the proposed buyout.
In November, the company announced that it would start offering “Amazon Clinic,” a message service that connects patients and doctors about about 20 common conditions, such as allergies and hair loss.
Amazon and Grubhub have announced a partnership that will allow Amazon Prime members to try Grubhub+ for free for one year.
