Amazon Launches Prescription Drug Plan for Prime Members

Devon Forward
·2 min read
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The new subscription will allow members to fill as many 'eligible' prescriptions as they need for a flat monthly rate.

Amazon took another major step into the healthcare world when the company announced that it's launching a program called RxPass from Amazon Pharmacy.

Prime members will be able to add on RxPass for $5 a month and receive all the "eligible generic medications" they need, delivered to their door for free.

The prescriptions available are from a list of common generic medicine, with an article by Dr. Vin Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, Amazon Pharmacy, stating that the available medicines treat "more than 80 common health conditions," including high blood pressure, acid reflux, and anxiety.

The official page for RxPass on Amazon says, "RxPass could help you save. RxPass isn’t insurance, but it can be helpful for those without insurance, or when insurance doesn’t cover certain medications. Many people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and anxiety will find their medications are eligible with RxPass."

RxPass is available now, but not everyone is eligible to use the service, as the site states that "People with government-funded insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid are not eligible [to] sign up for RxPass right now. Additionally, RxPass is not currently available to send medications to California, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington."

An HSA or FSA cannot be used to purchase RxPass, but it can be used when purchasing some prescriptions regularly through Amazon Pharmacy.

A few specific medicines included on the list are antidepressants sertraline, escitalopram and bupropion, otherwise known by their brand names Zoloft, Lexapro and Wellbutrin, as well as antibiotics amoxicillin and doxycycline and rizatriptan, or Maxalt, generally used for migraines.

Gupta spoke about the program in an interview, via CNBC, and said, "This is still day one for us where we’re at our beginning stages here, but we recognize that change is needed. That’s what patients across the country are telling us, and that’s what Amazon is responding to."