Already a household name in almost everything from books to electronics to household items, Amazon is now a major health care player with its new digital pharmacy that offers free home delivery and other perks to some customers with Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage plans and most major commercial health insurance plans.
Amazon Prime members are automatically enrolled in Amazon's new PrimeRx prescription drug benefit and can get a 40 percent to 80 percent discount off the cash price of generic and brand-name drugs. This discount applies if consumers pay out of pocket online without using their insurance or with a savings card at one of 50,000 U.S. pharmacies including Costco, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.
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Such savings sound big … but will they significantly reduce prescription drug costs for older Americans? Here's what we found:
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Price check: We compared the PrimeRx discount for a 30-day supply of eight top-selling generic and brand-name drugs against prices elsewhere. Amazon's PrimeRx often came in lowest, but not consistently. The savings was about $1 for the popular generic blood-pressure medication lisinopril and the diabetes drug metformin compared to two other discount digital pharmacies (Blink Health and GeniusRx) that also offer free shipping. The asthma drug albuterol was about $10 cheaper than the other two digital pharmacies we looked at and the cholesterol drug atorvastatin was more expensive on PrimeRx. PrimeRx prices for expensive brand-name drugs ranged from $5 less for the insulin Humalog to $179 more for the rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira and $9 more for the clot-prevention med Eliquis, compared to savings cards from GoodRx and WellRx that consumers used in a pharmacy.
"You also have to factor in the $120 Amazon Prime membership fee. That's another $10 a month [currently $12.99 for new members], says Richard Sagall, a doctor and president of needymeds.org, a nonprofit that helps people find affordable medications. “Consumers should check all their options before signing up. Your insurance co-pay, a co-pay coupon from a pharmaceutical company (usually not available to Medicare beneficiaries, but those with private or employer-paid plans may qualify), low-price or free generics at your local supermarket, getting a 90-day mail-order supply of your medications through your health insurer or using a drug assistance program may be cheaper,” Sagall says. “It's important to understand that prices fluctuate. Nobody gives the best price all the time.” One note of caution: Paying out-of-pocket usually won't count toward your insurance deductible, either.
