Amazon expands pharmacy subscription service to Medicare beneficiaries
Amazon’s $5 per month medication prescription service, RxPass, has expanded to allow those covered by Medicare to enroll.
The service provides patients access to commonly prescribed medications for $5 regardless of insurance. It’s currently only available to Amazon Prime members as an add-on benefit—and the drugs receive the typical free shipping associated with Prime.
“RxPass does not use insurance, instead it offers another way to cover the cost of eligible medications for customers with or without insurance,” Amazon said in a statement, adding that RxPass may actually save Medicare an estimated $70 a year, per patient.
Not all prescriptions are covered by the service; however 60 common generic drugs are. The Amazon prices may be cheaper than what Medicare would cover at a retail pharmacy, the company said.
The Amazon Pharmacy RxPass was launched in January 2023, expanding on the trends where retailers—including Costco and Walmart—have come to offer cheap healthcare to patients who are underinsured.
Walmart was unable to make its healthcare division profitable and closed all its services earlier this year.
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