How can you order prescription drugs via Amazon? How does the new RxPass program work?

Amazon becomes the latest company to infiltrate the lucrative healthcare sector with its new offer of a drug discount programme.

Named RxPass, people with Prime memberships can pay an extra $5 a month to receive prescriptions from around 50 basic medications. The website gives an example of Lisinopril, used to treat high blood pressure, with a marker next to it indicting it as Included with RxPass in a similar way to how movies on Prime Video has the marker for free films to watch.

“Any customer who pays more than $10 a month for their eligible medications will see their prescription costs drop by 50% or more, plus they save time by skipping a trip to the pharmacy,” John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy said in a statement about the new programme.

Amazon already has an online pharmacy with drugs that are cheaper than the extra $5 a month so its worth will be based on the amount of drugs needed per patient.

Amazon’s healthcare venture shows the profitability of the market

It’s the worst kept secret that private healthcare makes companies a lot of money. It’s no surprise that one of the biggest companies in the world would like to get in on the action.

In 2021 the healthcare industry was worth more than 18.3% of all US spending. Healthcare is expected to be worth $4.3 trillion alone in 2023 and also being twice as expensive per capita compared to the world average. An ageing population means more and more Americans will need to access healthcare in future giving companies a lucrative opportunity.