There’s something new in the house Amazon which does not concern Italy but which is equally interesting – and important – to report. Is called RxPassand is an unprecedented service provided within Prime by the Pharmacy division of the e-commerce giant through which patients have access to a series of generic drugs “commonly prescribed“. This is yet another confirmation of the company’s commitment in the health sector: think, for example, of Amazon Clinic to receive health care via chat, or the acquisition of One for 3.9 billion dollars Medical occurred last summer.
RxPass is part of Amazon’s renewed strategy in the sector after the closure of Care which, at first glance, might have seemed an attempt to distance itself from the healthcare business, but which instead represented a sort of break with the past for the implementation of hopefully new strategies – for the company – more fruitful. This is how Amazon describes the service:
With RxPass, Prime members can get all of their eligible medications delivered for a flat $5 monthly fee and have them delivered to you for free. There are no hidden fees or markups for the $5/month subscription. RxPass is available starting today in most US states.
Amazon has been selling medicines online for some time: with a prescription, Prime customers without health insurance can in fact already take advantage of discounts ranging from 40% for branded medicines up to 80% for generic ones. Now with RxPass you have one more option (the first of the following two):
- those who usually buy a few medicines a month can save by paying the 5 dollars required by RxPass (but, remember, they must also pay the Prime subscription)
- Prime-only subscribers can continue to enjoy discounts of 40 to 80 percent at over 60,000 pharmacies across the U.S.
We are excited to offer our customers surprisingly simple and low prices on the right medicines they need every month – vice president of Amazon Pharmacy John Love
We remind you that to join RxPass you must be a Prime member: the total annual cost will thus be 139 dollars (Prime subscription) + 5×12=60 dollars (RxPass), i.e. $199. Once enrolled in Prime and RxPass, the user will be able to search for the correct drug on Amazon Pharmacy. In the short description, below the price, it is indicated whether or not it is included in RxPass. Amazon estimates an average annual savings of about $100 per person.