With a new prescription discount savings card, MedsYourWay, that’s now available to some Blue Plan members in five states, Amazon’s pharmacy arm is aiming to make it easier for insured customers to save on drugs.
At present, people with insurance who want to get a prescription for less frequently face a tough choice: use their health plan and pay the copay or access a potentially cheaper cash price through a savings program. While the cash option sometimes costs less upfront, the money spent typically isn’t applied to a plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.
“Oftentimes discount cards act as an alternative rather than a complement to your current benefits package,” explained Dr. Nworah Ayogu, chief medical officer for Amazon Pharmacy, in an interview at the ViVE conference in Miami Beach.
But that’s not the case with Amazon Pharmacy’s discount card, which is administered by InsideRx, and offered through Prime Therapeutics and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan clients. That includes 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.
“With MedsYourWay, all of those payments will now apply to their out-of-pocket maximums and to their deductibles.”
To use MedsYourWay, customers must be getting their drugs from Amazon Pharmacy.
As an alternative, the Amazon Prime Rx benefit offers savings and discounts on prescriptions at more than 60,000 pharmacies including Amazon Pharmacy. But, at present, that’s offered directly to consumers and not through insurance plans. So the money spent on lower cost medications may not necessarily count toward a health plan deductible or out-of-pocket maximum, as with other discount cards and programs.
But by providing convenient access to prescriptions, decreasing cost and increasing pricing transparency and offering 24/7 access to a pharmacist by phone for customers, Ayogu said Amazon Pharmacy is working to make it easier for patients to ultimately get the medication they need.
Eligible Blue Plan members who select Amazon as their pharmacy will have a simplified sign-up experience and real-time, plan-specific pricing on prescription medications, according to the company. Amazon Pharmacy also offers free home delivery and free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members.
Data shows 20% to 30% of prescriptions are never filled, which can have serious health consequences. In the U.S., it’s estimated to cause approximately 125,000 deaths and at least 10% of hospitalizations, and cost the U.S. health care system between $100 billion and $289 billion annually, according to a research review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
But patients aren’t able to access prescribed medications for many reasons, including cost.
“There are so many barriers to adherence,” Ayogu said.
Amazon Pharmacy is seeking to reduce the cost of medications and make it more convenient to access prescribed drugs, among other efforts, to help remove those barriers, he said. The company is also looking to expand its MedsYourWay program to other plans.
“We’re eager to partner with all plans that want to move forward with customer-obsessed innovations,” Ayogu said.
Photo credit; hillwoman2. Getty Images
