Medicare recipients can now join Amazon’s RxPass for $5 per month
- Expanding RxPass to Medicare recipients could save $70 yearly per medication
- Amazon requires you to be a Prime member to join
- RxPass has over 50 medications available
FILE – An Amazon logo appears on a delivery van, Oct. 1, 2020, in Boston. Amazon is adding a prescription drug discount program to its growing health care business. The retail giant said Tuesday that it will launch RxPass, a subscription service for customers who have Prime memberships. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
maylen
(NewsNation) — Amazon Pharmacy’s medication subscription service Amazon RxPass is now available for only $5 per month for Medicare enrollees, potentially offering savings for American seniors.
Amazon RxPass isn’t new, but expanding it to Medicare recipients could save about $70 if you take just one one medication available through RxPass, according to Amazon. For the 54% of American seniors on four or more medications, it could mean major savings, as you could get all of your medications for one monthly fee.
Joining the program requires an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 per month. Prime members can get RxPass benefits for an extra $5 a month, totaling $19.99 per month. For someone who isn’t already paying for Prime, the memberships could end up costing the same or more than what they currently pay for their medication.
For example, one common blood pressure medication available on RxPass, lisinopril, costs the average American $3.93 out of pocket, according to Statista. If this was the only medication you’d need from RxPass and aren’t already using Prime, it would be more expensive than getting it from the provider you already use.
Additionally, the program has over 50 medications available that cover more than 75 common health conditions like high blood pressure and anxiety, but it doesn’t include many of the most commonly prescribed drugs for seniors, Consumer Affairs reported.
