Patients face many hurdles in order to find affordable ways to get their prescription medications, especially those who take multiple medications to treat multiple medical conditions. Due to the rising cost of prescription medications, patients taking multiple drugs are more inclined to go to multiple sources to get medicines at the best price. This could lead to drug interactions and poor outcomes as each pharmacy will not have the patient’s comprehensive medication list. There is no one size fits all solution for everyone so it is important that consumers evaluate their needs in order to find out what would work best for them.
In 2020 Amazon started the Amazon Pharmacy to provide patients with a way to make prescription medications more affordable and accessible via home delivery. As part of their evolving strategy to address the rising costs of medications, they launched a new program in January 2023 called RxPass. RxPass is a program that allows patients to get eligible generic medications for one flat fee of $5 per month on top of the Prime Membership (currently $14.99 per month or $139 per year). The program is intended to provide Prime members affordable access to medications used to treat more than 80 common conditions like high blood pressure, anxiety, and acid reflux. Medications will be delivered directly to the patient’s house for free and most will be delivered in 2 days. The subscription can be canceled at any time.
Although RxPass is not insurance, it can be helpful for patients that are uninsured or even for those whose insurance doesn’t cover certain medications. Despite its benefits, this program has its limitations such as individuals with government-funded insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare) are currently not eligible for this program. Other limitations include restrictions on medications, delivery locations, and states where medications will be shipped. Although RxPass does not ship medications to certain states, Amazon Pharmacy can ship to all 50 states. Locations, where RxPass cannot ship medications, are P.O. boxes, APO/FPO/DPO addresses, and Amazon lockers.
Another program similar to RxPass that offers generic medications is Mark Cuban’s CostPlus which was officially launched in January 2022. CostPlus’ mission is to provide every American with accessible and affordable medications. CostPlus is able to achieve this by cutting out the middleman and negotiating directly with manufacturers to get the best possible price. Additionally, medications are delivered directly to the patient’s home and do not require a membership to use their services. Mark Cuban CostPlus pharmacy can ship to all 50 states.
Now let’s take a look at some examples to see if RxPass is right for you:
Meet Charles:
A 70-year-old male who just found out about the newly launched RxPass program from his neighbor. He is a Medicare patient that uses his local pharmacy to fill a 1-month supply of medications for the following medical conditions: diabetes, enlarged prostate, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Sadly, Charles has entered the donut hole with his Medicare coverage and now his medications are more expensive.
A “donut hole” or coverage gap happens after the patient and their medicare drug plan have spent a certain amount for covered drugs; thus the patient must now pay 25% of the remaining price and this is considered out-of-pocket. Unfortunately, he relies on his granddaughter for assistance with technology, which creates a barrier for him to use RxPass. Additionally, he has Medicare part D and it is not accepted by RxPass. So, at this time, Charles is not an ideal candidate for the RxPass program.
*Price is with prime membership
**Prices vary day by day.
Meet Monica:
A 42-year-old female who loves finding the best deals online. She is thinking about getting Amazon prime membership but is not sure if it’s a good option for her. She is an uninsured individual that uses her local pharmacy to fill medications for the following medical conditions: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heartburn, and depression.
With RxPass, Monica can get her medications delivered to her home and only for a total of $19.99 a month (includes both Amazon Prime & RxPass membership) compared to Amazon pharmacy, which costs her around $40 a month, GoodRx, which costs her around $45-50 a month at her local pharmacy and CostPlus, which costs her $36.50 plus state taxes.
*Price is with prime membership
**Prices vary day by day.
Meet Lucas:
A 7-year-old boy who has asthma and was recently diagnosed with a swimmer’s ear infection. Lucas’ mother recently used RxPass to get her antidepressant medication, sertraline 50mg and loved how quickly the medication arrived at her home. Lucas’ mother currently uses their local pharmacy to fill a 1-month supply of Lucas’ medications for asthma. She is thinking about switching pharmacies and getting Lucas’ medications with RxPass as well.
Unfortunately, his doctor prescribed him prescription ear drops called Ciprofloxacin/Dexamethasone 0.3%/0.1% for a 7-day course which is not listed on RxPass. His medications for asthma are also not listed on RxPass. So, at this time, Lucas is not an ideal candidate for the RxPass program, and his mother will continue to use their local pharmacy for his medications.
*Price is with prime membership
**Prices vary day by day.
As seen by these example scenarios there are multiple factors that will impact an individual patient’s choice on how to go about getting their prescription medication. It can be overwhelming to navigate this complex issue.
NOVA ScriptsCentral is proud to offer our MedHelp program. This is a free program where NOVA ScriptsCentral leverages its decades of experience to help patients identify affordable options to get their prescription medications based on where they live. Simply submit an online inquiry via the website and within 2 business days you will get personalized recommendations identifying the best options for getting your medications based on where you live and a comprehensive medication safety review to make sure that all the medicines you are taking are safe.
(https://novascriptscentral.org/finding-affordable-medicines/)