Amazon offers Prime prescription perk to boost subscriptions.
Amazon recently announced the launch of RxPass, a new prescription perk for US Prime members. This service allows Prime members to get as many drugs as they need from a list of 50 generic medications to treat more than 80 common chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, anxiety and diabetes. The service costs $5 a month per person and delivery is free.
Amazon has been pushing deeper into the health care sector in recent years. It launched its own online pharmacy in 2020 and acquired PillPack in 2018. Amazon Care, a telehealth service, was introduced in 2020 and later shut down. In July, Amazon announced the acquisition of boutique primary care provider One Medical. Additionally, it offers a Prime prescription savings benefit, which offers discounts of up to 80% on generic medications and up to 40% on brand-name prescriptions.
The e-retailer faces competition in pharmacy from the likes of CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. Amazon has not yet revealed how its online pharmacy offering has fared since launch. However, an August report from Morgan Stanley found that Amazon Pharmacy did not rank as a top perk for Prime members, according to Business Insider.
Amazon’s chief medical officer, Vin Gupta, believes the company is aiming to deliver a pharmacy experience that is “fundamentally different” from how pharmacies have existed over the last several decades. RxPass does not offer insulin or specialty medications, and it is not available for people on Medicaid or Medicare. Gupta declined to comment on whether Amazon will expand the list of medications offered through RxPass in the future.
Overall, Amazon’s new prescription perk is an effort to boost Prime subscriptions and attract users to its pharmacy service. The company is hoping to provide a pharmacy experience that is different from what has been offered in the past. It remains to be seen how successful Amazon’s pharmacy service will be, but the company is clearly making a push to become a major player in the health care sector.
News Source