This is a hopeful sign that others are getting in on the bandwagon of lowering prices. In addition to Good Rx we have Cubans PBM. All good for the consumer.

Amazon rolled out a new prescription drug subscription for Prime members called RxPass that will ship generic medications to customers' homes for a flat monthly fee of $5.

Prime members can use the new service to order commonly prescribed generic medications that treat more than 80 common health conditions, including high blood pressure and acid reflux, and the service includes free delivery.

RxPass, which is available starting Tuesday in most U.S. states, includes 50-plus generic drugs, according to John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy. The aim is to provide affordable access to commonly prescribed generic medications, he said.

"At $5 a month, you know what you're going to pay for your medications. In most places, that's less than a mocha or a cup of coffee. This is the starting list, and we're excited about the coverage that it provides," he said in an interview.

"The pharmacy experience largely hasn't innovated on behalf of customers for decades now. In many cases, customers are still finding out about pricing for their medications at the point they're getting them, and it's their responsibility to budget for them and then drive and pick them up. This is something we think Amazon can really help improve—bringing the low price, the affordability and the convenience to people's medical needs," Love said.

He added, "We think this is going to be super valuable for Americans who have a chronic condition or those who might be taking two to three medications. With this specific offering, any eligible medications would all be for the single low flat fee of $5, and it'll be delivered to their door."

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Amazon shook up the retail drugstore market when it acquired PillPack in 2018 and then again when it rolled out Amazon Pharmacy in 2020. The online retail giant has been rapidly expanding its reach in the healthcare space, most notably with its recent deal to buy One Medical for $3.9 billion.

In August, Amazon rolled out a new virtual medical clinic, Amazon Clinic, that aims to treat common conditions like allergies, hair loss and skin conditions.

Competition in the pharmacy space is heating up as online pharmacies that offer price transparency and mail-order services are putting pressure on brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company launched an online pharmacy earlier this year, aiming to disrupt skyrocketing prescription drug prices in the U.S. It currently offers approximately 350 unique generic prescription drugs that it says reflect manufacturer prices plus a 15% fee.

Just yesterday, Optum Rx launched a new tool that aims to make it easier to compare the direct-to-consumer price for generic drugs to the price with insurance.

Along with the new subscription service, Amazon Pharmacy also offers a Prime prescription savings benefit for discounts up to 80% off generic and 40% off brand-name medications at more than 60,000 participating pharmacies.

The Amazon Pharmacy subscription service works with a broad range of insurance plans. However, it's estimated that more than 40% of Americans with employment-based coverage now have high-deductible health plans, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One analysis from ValuePenguin pegs the number at 53% of private-sector workers in the U.S. enrolled in HDHPs in 2020, up from 39.4% in 2015. High-deductible plans can translate to higher out-of-pocket costs.

"There are 150 million Americans who take one or more of the medications on this eligible [medication] list that we're launching with," Love said, estimating that "tens of millions" of U.S. patients, "given their insurance situation, might save on average $100 a year versus the lowest price either through insurance copay or paying cash."

Vin Gupta, M.D., chief medical officer at Amazon Pharmacy and a practicing pulmonologist, said he has seen patients with chronic diseases struggle to get access to the basic medications they need to live their lives well.



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"Two in 5 Americans are underinsured. We know that 1 in 4 find it difficult to afford their medications. I've seen this with my own eyes in the pulmonary clinic that often even if somebody does have insurance, there isn't price transparency," Gupta said. "The pharmacy experience has not changed. After a patient leaves the pulmonary clinic, they have to navigate a maze of dealing with insurance and getting to the pharmacy."

Those barriers can lead to poor outcomes as new medications don’t get filled, refills don’t get picked up and patients suffer, he noted.

Amazon Pharmacy aims to improve that experience by offering value, convenience and price transparency, he noted. "These are features that up until very recently just had not existed. As a provider, I'm really excited not just about what RxPass means for patients but what we're trying to do more broadly as a pharmacy," Gupta said.

The list of eligible medications for Amazon Pharmacy's RxPass includes generic medications to treat common mental health conditions like anxiety, he noted. "We think that this is going to be meaningful to a broad swath of the country, not just those with chronic non-communicable diseases like hypertension," he said.

There's a growing list of startups targeting the $500 billion retail pharmacy sector as a massive opportunity to disrupt the status quo. Companies in the space include Alto Pharmacy, Capsule, Truepill and NowRx.

Walmart snapped up a prescription management app from startup CareZone in 2020, the same year UnitedHealth Group acquired home-delivery pharmacy DivvyDose for $300 million.

A J.D. Power study last year found that companies such as Amazon represent a growing threat to retail pharmacies, at least in terms of how patients purchase their medications. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of brick-and-mortar pharmacy customers currently have an Amazon Prime account, and nearly half (48%) of pharmacy customers are aware of pharmacy services offered by Amazon, the J.D. Power study found.

Fourteen percent of customers know about Amazon’s PillPack online pharmacy service. “Of that group, 38% say they ‘definitely will’ switch pharmacies in the next 12 months,” the J.D. Power study stated.

"The pandemic has changed a lot about how patients want to consume care," Gupta said. "I hear it all the time, 'Hey Doc, I'd love to see you at a clinic or in the hospital, but if I can get my services at home, conveniently and you can make sure it's safe and appropriate, well, that's great.' That's exactly what Amazon Pharmacy is really leaning into. It's meeting this moment where patients across the country have more agency, they know their bodies more and they're more discerning when it comes to how they want to consume healthcare services."

He added, "Amazon is leaning into its core strengths and last-mile delivery to meet patients at their doorstep and Amazon Pharmacy, at its core, enables that type of interface."


link; https://www.fiercehealthcare.c...rescriptions-5-month

quote:

RxPass, which is available starting Tuesday in most U.S. states, includes 50-plus generic drugs,

Be nice if they listed them in the same article.... Here it is for anyone to review

Da Link

FWIW I've been using GoodRx for a few years, mainly just for certain meds that my health insurance won't cover or pays very little on. (Mainly dermatology stuff).

GoodRx has always been very good at saving me money, but lately I've noticed that the prices I actually have to pay are higher than GoodRx shows I should have to pay at the pharmacy.

I am now paying at least $100 a month more for skin care prescription products than I used to pay cash for. This is since about 5 months ago.

Normally I would not even blink at that $100 for effective medication, but with all the other things, pretty much everything actually, that is costing me a lot more money on each month, inflation is bad, now I am actively looking at ways to save some $$$ on prescriptions. Amazon certainly looks interesting. We will see.

Just a FYI y'all.

Edit to add: It is definitely worthwhile to check Costco's pharmacy prices. You do NOT need to be a Costco member to use their pharmacy.
.

Its cheaper to use Costco's Pharmacy and not be a member, that way you don't wander around the store and end up with $350 worth of stuff you didn't intend to buy while waiting on your free generic Sildenafil!

I could see that being a big savings for a number of people.

But with my current insurance, it's like $7.15 after tax for a 90 day supply of my meds.

So I'd literally be paying a little over twice as much by going with Amazon Pharmacy.

Plus the $130 a year for Prime. If you're not already a member, that is. I ditched them because they insisted on using USPS for delivery in my area, which made a mockery of their '2 day delivery' boast, and meant i had to drive to and from town to pick up my packages.

So, I'll continue using Walmart for now I think, I'm sure they won't be far behind Bezos Inc.

Not something I'd use. Good for those without a comprehensive drug plan.

Thankfully, I don't take a lot of meds and most of those I take are now zero copay with my Medicare Advantage drug plan.

If they are focused on generics likely sourced from India or prc, who's liable when fakes get shipped? Best case fakes are inert, worst case they are toxic.

Some of those listed are free locally at several locations, Grocery Stores, Costco, Wal-Mart....

Ask where manufactured. Overwhelmingly generic drugs come from either China or India (using ingredients sourced from China). Search manufacturer on Google. Consumer beware.

quote:

Originally posted by uvahawk:
Ask where manufactured. Overwhelmingly generic drugs come from either China or India (using ingredients sourced from China). Search manufacturer on Google. Consumer beware.

I'll have to look into this further. I know for sure that several of mine are made in India. Definitely gives me pause.

[rant on]
Amazon is trying to finish what Walmart started all those years ago with the $4 generic list.

Wanna know why we don't produce antibiotics in the US anymore? $4 generics. Wanna know why there are recalls of blood pressure and diabetes meds due to carcinogenic contaminants like ndma? $4 generics. Wanna know why your pharmacy is understaffed and your wait times are long? Damn hard to keep the lights on and pay the staff that works to keep you safe when you make next to nada on your product because of $4 generics.

I saw an insurance claim the other day where we got reimbursed $0 for the cost of the drug and a $0.25 dispensing fee. $0.25 for filling a prescription isn't going to pay the staff, the vial, the cap, the label, the printer paper for the monograph that no one ever reads, the electricity bill... And so forth and so on...

Before someone tries to point out that brand name meds are more expensive, that doesn't mean the pharmacy is making any kind of profit margin on them either due to pitiful insurance reimbursements.

Between this issue and the insurance companies tightening the screws in their contracts every single year, pretty soon there will be no choice but to get your meds from your insurance company's mail order pharmacy or roll the dice with Amazon.

This is on top of the risk of trusting PRC, and India to a lesser extent, with keeping the supply flowing should our relations with those countries turn sour. If China wanted to, they could simply turn off the flow of medication and we wouldn't be able to restart production here fast enough.

There are exceptions like insulin that should not cost what they do for generics. However apart from those exceptions, there are some things where cheaper is not always better. Medication is one. I will never understand how some people will spend eight or nine bucks for their venti whatever from Starbucks most days of the week, but complain about a $10 copay for a month's supply of medication.
[/rant off]

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
If they are focused on generics likely sourced from India or prc, who's liable when fakes get shipped? Best case fakes are inert, worst case they are toxic.

That would be my concern, probably would never get an answer from Amazon.

Wife's Rosuvastatin is $39 at Costco vs. $9.50 shown at Amazon, both 90 days.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Both brand name and generics are manufactured in India as well as other places. The FDA is responsible for oversight. Offshore manufacturing of drugs has been going on for a long time.
Just because a drug is manufactured in the United States does not mean it is safe. Recall the Abbott labs debacle??
Of course if you are buying illicit drugs over the internet, all bets are off.

If you are interested top ten generic manufacturers:

https://www.fiercepharma.com/p...gmakers-2021-revenue

quote:

Originally posted by uvahawk:
Ask where manufactured. Overwhelmingly generic drugs come from either China or India (using ingredients sourced from China). Search manufacturer on Google. Consumer beware.

Even brand name meds are made all over the globe, including in 3rd world factories.

I have Celiac disease, so any wheat hits me like a 3 day intestinal virus. I had such a reaction to a brand name Rx from a mainstream pharmaceutical company. In researching that med I found there were 3 factories approved by FDA where it could be made. India, China, and iirc Indonesia or the Philippines.

Even the pharmacist could not tell me which factory the pills came from or what ingredients were in it (aside from the patented active molecule). Lots of fillers and other compounds besides the main chemical are in meds.

All 3 factories had numerous issues identified by FDA. Quality, cleanliness, record keeping, etc.

I take no Rx meds, and rarely even take over the counter meds such as Aspirin.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
The FDA is responsible for oversight.

ROFL. Good one.

In the US, FDA inspectors can and do show up unannounced.
In China, inspections must be scheduled in advance.
India I don't know.

I would like to know that whatever giant pharmacy distributor is selling this stuff at least checks for bioavailability.

I remember reading about and worry about meds from prc (heart meds, cancer meds, etc) not being the actual drug but just sugar pills and what not. This was awhile back - years ago. Not sure if the esteemed FDA has plugged the holes since then, if true. I didn't pay too much attention because I was only on branded meds made in first world countries. But I assumed it was true and that real people were adversely affected.

I'm gonna assume that the FDA doesn't really care. And that big pharma doesn't really care unless they get caught. It's all about the benjamins and risk management.

And so escapes will happen. That being said, if I recall correctly, some of the people that were caught doing some of this stuff in prc were executed. Maybe because they were selling domestically as well.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Do you have a solution to this issue of the FDA? Do you source all of your food and check for salmonella, antibiotics, and listeria?

I posted this article in the hopes that would help others on this forum. Back on task please. If you want to debate the FDA please start another thread.

quote:

Originally posted by tigereye313:
[rant on]
Amazon is trying to finish what Walmart started all those years ago with the $4 generic list.

Wanna know why we don't produce antibiotics in the US anymore? $4 generics. Wanna know why there are recalls of blood pressure and diabetes meds due to carcinogenic contaminants like ndma? $4 generics. Wanna know why your pharmacy is understaffed and your wait times are long? Damn hard to keep the lights on and pay the staff that works to keep you safe when you make next to nada on your product because of $4 generics.

[rant]
And you wanna know one big reason $4 generics exist in the first place? Exorbitant, often outrageous pricing by the major pharmaceutical companies.
[/rant]

Take Ambien®. Street price for Ambien 10mg appears to be $5-$10/dose. That'd be $150 to $300 for a 30-day supply. No prescription coverage my wife and I have ever had would pay for it. Generic Zolpidem: 23¢ to $1 per tablet.

The astonishing thing is the street price of Ambien remains astronomical despite the fact generics are readily available. (Ambien CR® [controlled release] is still proprietary.)

I would far prefer to buy the Real Deal, from the people who put in the work to develop the drug, but, I simply cannot afford their prices. No drug coverage plan will subsidize the pharmaceutical companies' profit margins and I don't blame them one bit.