USA – Amazon Pharmacy has collaborated with Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in five states, as well as pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics, to provide a prescription discount savings card.
Dr. Nworah Ayogu, chief medical officer at Amazon Pharmacy, explained at a ViVE panel that payments made with the MedsYourWay card, which is administered by InsiderRx, will count toward patients’ out-of-pocket maximums and deductibles.
MedsYourWay is provided by Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefit manager owned by a number of Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans. In the fall of 2021, Prime Therapeutics began offering home delivery to some customers via Amazon Pharmacy.
The MedsYourWay card can only be used at Amazon Pharmacy. The majority of prescription discount cards are accepted at a network of pharmacies.
Amazon Pharmacy launched in 2020, two years after the company acquired PillPack, a drug delivery startup.
The company’s presence in healthcare is growing: it has a now-national telehealth program called Amazon Care, a fitness band, and has integrated Alexa into healthcare settings.
Members of the plan will also have an “enhanced experience” on Amazon Pharmacy.
“For example, when they go to checkout, at that checkout screen they’ll see the discount card price and the insurance price. They can be free to choose whatever’s cheapest and not have to worry about what applies to their out-of-pocket maximum or the deductible because both apply,” Ayogu said.
“And those customers will get the free, fast shipping because of this partnership. So it will be more convenient, more affordable and simpler.”
Plans partnering with Amazon Pharmacy include 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.
“Healthcare has big problems, and Amazon, we bring a lot of superpowers to the mix. We’re hoping that, at least in pharmacy, we can bring those forward and make the industry better,” Ayogu said.
“But we know that we’re not going to be able to solve those problems by ourselves. Healthcare’s big problems are too thorny for anyone to solve by themselves. So we’re going to need multiple heroes.
“We’re going to need the Avengers of healthcare to solve this. And we’re ready to partner to try and make that happen.“
Amazon’s partnership with Blue will bring reprieve to the high drug costs have long been a source of concern in the United States’ healthcare system.
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