Amazon Prime Members can now get unlimited prescriptions for $5 a month

RxPass covers generic medications for over 80 different conditions

While most of Amazon's recent big moves in the healthcare space have centered around primary care, with its $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical, the shutting down of Amazon Care, and the launch of Amazon Clinic, the company has actually been in the pharmacy space even longer, starting with its acquisition of online pharmacy PillPack in 2018.

Since then it has launched its own line of over the counter drugs and also debuted Amazon Pharmacy, a store that allows customers to have their prescription medication delivered right to their door, and offering discounted medications for Prime members who pay without insurance. 

On Tuesday, the company unveiled a way to save its members more money with a new subscription model for Amazon Pharmacy, allowing patients to pay a flat monthly fee for all their drugs, even if they take multiple medications. 

With RxPass, members of Amazon Prime can pay just $5 a month and get access to as many commonly prescribed generic medications as they need; that includes drugs that treat more than 80 health conditions, such as high blood pressure, anxiety, or acid reflux. Depending on their prescription, RxPass members will also be able to have their medications delivered on either a monthly or quarterly basis.

To determine whether a prescription medication is part of the RxPass program, patients can search for the name of the prescription on the Amazon Pharmacy website; they can also see the full list of medications, which can be sorted by alphabetical order, or can be searched by condition.

For example, under mental health, it lists bupropion, doxepin, escitalopram, quetiapine, risperidone, sertraline, and venlafaxine, while under urinary retention & urinary agents it lists dutasteride, finasteride, and oxybutynin. 

RxPass isn't available to everyone just yet: those who have government-funded insurance, such as Medicare or Medicaid, are not eligible sign up, and RxPass is not currently available to send medications to certain states, including California, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. 

"Over the last decade as a practicing pulmonologist, I have seen patients with chronic diseases struggle to get access to the basic medications they need to live their lives well Navigating insurance can be a maze and getting to the pharmacy a burden. Sometimes that has led to poor outcomes: New medications don’t get filled, refills don’t get picked up, and patients suffer," Dr. Vin Gupta, Chief Medical Officer at Amazon Pharmacy, wrote in a blog post.

?Aspects of our health care system make what should be easy, difficult. It’s why I feel so fortunate to be a part of the change that Amazon Pharmacy is helping to bring to this space."

(Image source: pharmacy.amazon.com)