Amazon Pharmacy partners with Blue Plans to make some medications more affordable

The tech giant's pharmacy arm is rolling out a prescription discount savings card that's available to some Blue Plans members in 5 states.

Amazon Pharmacy

Amazon Pharmacy is teaming-up with Blue Plans in five states and Prime Therapeutics to tackle the affordability of prescription medications. To that end, the tech giant’s pharmacy arm is rolling out a prescription discount savings card for some Blue Plans members.

As a result, eligible customers can compare their co-pay or discount price upfront and then apply purchases for eligible medications to the out-of-pocket maximums and deductibles associated with their insurance plan, according to Nworah Ayogu, M.D., chief medical officer for Amazon Pharmacy.

The move, according to Ayogu, is part of Amazon’s focus on building the “most customer-centric pharmacy.”

The new MedsYourWay discount card is administered by InsideRx and offered through Prime Therapeutics and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan clients.

Why does it matter?

Prescription discount cards or other savings programs can be difficult for customers with insurance to find, and, as a result, they tend to serve as an alternative to health insurance rather than a complementary option. This means money spent on medications may not count toward annual out-of-pocket costs or the deductible.

In contrast, with MedsYourWay – Amazon Pharmacy makes it seamless for customers to use their discount card and get the most out of their benefits.

How does it work?

Eligible Blue Plan members who select Amazon as their pharmacy will benefit from a simplified sign-up experience, real-time plan-specific pricing on prescription medications, and 24/7 access to our pharmacists. Amazon Pharmacy also offers free home delivery, and free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members.

Amazon Pharmacy aims to tackle the barriers that make it difficult for patients to get their medications and stay adherent; also, it aims to improve medication price transparency.

On the record

“We want things to be affordable for patients but also simple. And, we really want to be complementary to the benefits they already have,” Ayogu told Fierce Healthcare during an interview at the ViVE 2022 conference. “We want to enhance the entire system and raise the bar. We’ll continue to put out innovations to help drive down cost per patient because we know that cost is such a huge barrier.”

“Our efforts with Prime Therapeutics and the Blue Plans are just one more way we are working to help customers conveniently get the medications they need, when they need them, at a price they can afford, and take them as prescribed. We want to make it easy to stay healthy,” he said.

Availability

The MedsYourWay discount card is available to members in eligible plans of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Florida Blue and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.

The context

As many as one-third of prescriptions are never filled. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has found that a lack of drug adherence causes nearly 125,000 deaths and 10% of hospitalizations a year, while potentially costing the healthcare system as much as $289 billion annually.