Amazon announces service to deliver medications to your door. Here’s how it works

Over the past couple of decades, Amazon has slowly become integrated into every part of our lives. First, it was online shopping for books, and eventually everything from clothes to groceries. Television shows, movies and gaming soon followed. And of course, the virtual assistant Alexa is part of millions of households nationwide.

Now, Amazon is making it easier to order medical subscriptions through the new Amazon Pharmacy RxPass.

The Seattle-headquartered company announced the launch of the RxPass on Tuesday, a subscription-based benefit that will allow Amazon Prime members to order eligible medications.

Although eight states will not have access to RxPass upon release, Idahoans will be able to subscribe starting today. The states that do not have access yet are California, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

“With RxPass, Prime members can get as many eligible medications as they need for one flat, low fee of $5 and have them conveniently delivered free to their door,” Amazon announced in a Tuesday news release. “It’s estimated that more than 150 million Americans take one or more of the medications available through the RxPass monthly subscription.”

A complete list of RxPass-eligible medications can be found on Amazon’s website; many common drugs for high blood pressure, anxiety and allergies are included.

How does Amazon Pharmacy work?

Access to Amazon’s RxPass requires an Amazon Prime account, which costs $14.99 per month or $139 a year — students are eligible for the discounted price of $7.49 per month or $69 a year.

The RxPass will then cost an additional $5 per month. When searching Amazon, RxPass-eligible medications will be marked as available through the pass.

Subscribers can get any prescribed medicine filled as often as they need and delivered to their door for the flat $5 monthly fee. RxPass also works with auto-refill, meaning customers can get their required medication shipped automatically every month.

Who is eligible to use Amazon Pharmacy?

Idaho is one of 42 states in which the RxPass will be available immediately. Amazon states that purchasing the pass will be suitable for anyone spending more than $5 monthly on medications.

Although RxPass isn’t insurance, Amazon says it can make subscriptions cheaper for people without insurance or when insurance doesn’t cover certain medications.

RxPass is also unavailable for those who use government-funded insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid. Customers also cannot use Health Saving Accounts or Flex Spending Accounts to pay for the RxPass subscription.

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