Amazon announces service to deliver medications to your door. Here’s how it works in Idaho
Over the past couple of decades, Amazon has slowly become integrated into every part of our lives.
First, it was online shopping for books. Eventually, it was for everything from clothes to groceries. Television shows, movies and gaming soon followed. And of course, the virtual assistant Alexa is part of millions of households nationwide.
Now, Amazon is making it easier to order medical subscriptions through the new Amazon pharmacy, RxPass.
The Seattle-headquartered company announced the launch of the RxPass on Tuesday, Jan. 24, a subscription-based benefit that will allow Amazon Prime members to order eligible medications.
Although eight states did not have access to RxPass upon release, Amazon said Idahoans are among those able to subscribe now. The states that do not have access yet are California, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.
“With RxPass, Prime members can get as many eligible medications as they need for one flat, low fee of $5 and have them conveniently delivered free to their door,” Amazon said in a news release. “It’s estimated that more than 150 million Americans take one or more of the medications available through the RxPass monthly subscription.”
A complete list of RxPass-eligible medications can be found on Amazon’s website. Many common drugs for high blood pressure, anxiety and allergies are included.
How does Amazon Pharmacy work?
Access to Amazon’s RxPass requires an Amazon Prime account, which costs $14.99 per month or $139 a year. Students are eligible for the discounted price of $7.49 per month or $69 a year.
The RxPass then costs an additional $5 per month. When searching Amazon, RxPass-eligible medications will be marked as available through the pass.
Subscribers can get any prescribed medicine filled as often as they need and delivered to their door for the flat $5 monthly fee. RxPass also works with auto-refill, meaning customers can get their required medication shipped automatically every month.
Although RxPass isn’t insurance, Amazon says it can make prescriptions cheaper for people without insurance or when insurance doesn’t cover certain medications.
RxPass is unavailable for those who use government-funded insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid. Customers also cannot use health savings accounts or flex-spending accounts to pay for the RxPass subscription.
This story was originally published January 24, 2023 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Amazon announces service to deliver medications to your door. Here’s how it works in Idaho."
