4 Ways Amazon’s New Same-Day Prescription Delivery Saves You Even More Money
Amazon announced on March 26 it was expanding its same-day prescription delivery service to New York City and the greater Los Angeles area, adding that it will offer the service to more than a dozen U.S. cities by the end of the year, according to a press release.
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The same-day delivery service already exists in Austin, Indianapolis, Miami, Phoenix, and Seattle, while customers in College Station, Texas, can get their medications delivered in under an hour via drone, Amazon added.
Customers can access prescriptions via Amazon Pharmacy, an online service the company launched in 2020, which also offers free shipping for Prime members.
Amazon said it was using artificial intelligence (AI) to fulfill the orders, which results in speedier deliveries.
“AI can streamline prep work that historically would take hours down to mere minutes or even seconds, and reduce administrative errors,” Kelvin Downes, director of fulfillment for Amazon Pharmacy, stated in the release.
In addition to saving time, there are several ways Amazon Pharmacy and same-day delivery services can help lower healthcare costs for consumers.
RxPass
For instance, RxPass — a Prime membership benefit — provides customers with access to more than 80 eligible generic medications for a flat $5 monthly fee, according to Amazon.
“While other savings programs charge for each individual medication, RxPass is always $5 a month — no matter how many meds you take,” Amazon indicated.
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Transparent Pricing
According to the company, Amazon Pharmacy offers competitive and transparent pricing on its medications, and Prime members can save up to 80% off generic and 40% off brand-name medications when they pay without insurance.
Coupons
Amazon Pharmacy automatically applies eligible manufacturer coupons at checkout. No endless online searching, no program enrollment — just simple saving.
Online prescriptions are generally cheaper
A recent study by researchers at The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Services compared the price of 20 commonly prescribed generic medications purchased through pharmacy discount card services from Amazon Prime and GoodRx against out-of-pocket payments made by patients.
They found that 20% of the prescription medications included in their analysis would have been less expensive through Amazon and more than 40% would have been cheaper through GoodRx, according to an article on the university’s website.
In addition, Consumer Reports noted that you can get even bigger discounts if you order medication for several months.
“At Amazon we found a six-month supply of generic Lipitor (atorvastatin) for $6, compared with $14.60 for a single month. At Ro Pharmacy, a 30-day supply of generic Lipitor was $9.90, but if you order an entire year’s worth, the cost is $19.80,” according to Consumer Reports.
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