Amazon Pharmacy announced today that it will now automatically apply manufacturer coupons on brand name drugs to an eligible patient’s order. The company is working with GSK, Kaléo, Novo Nordisk and Dexcom to integrate coupons for their brand-name medications, including Trelegy, AUVI-Q, Wegovy, G6 and G7 continuous glucose monitoring systems and more, directly into the checkout experience on the Amazon Pharmacy website and app.
“Now, eligible patients can seamlessly access savings on novel, brand-name therapies for the treatment of diabetes, asthma, emphysema, obesity, and other conditions,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Amazon Pharmacy will automatically apply these coupons at checkout when eligible, meaning patients no longer have the burden of finding and applying coupons, and can focus on managing their care. No clipping, clicking, or downloading.”
The company says the move aims to make it easier for patients to take advantage of coupons, noting that a recent study from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission found that patients only used manufacturer-sponsored coupons 15% of the time they were available to them.
There are some restrictions, Amazon Pharmacy notes, as coupons may work in connection with a patient’s insurance, but whether a particular medication is covered under an insurance plan depends on the insurance provider. Additionally, patients who are eligible to receive benefits from any state or federal healthcare program, such as Medicare, Medicaid or Medicare Part D, can’t use manufacturer-sponsored coupons.
If you’re eligible for a coupon, you’ll see your pricing options with the coupon before you check out.
The company outlines that coupon savings are set by manufacturers, who establish which medications have coupons and how they can be used, and that coupons may change or expire at any time. Amazon Pharmacy says if you don’t see a coupon for your medication, you should check back frequently, as it’s working with manufacturers to expand the availability of coupons.
When not using a coupon, Amazon Pharmacy provides discounts on generic and non-generic meds, up to 80% and 40% respectively through its Prime prescription savings benefit.
The announcement comes a few months after Amazon Pharmacy launched RxPass, a service where Prime users in the U.S. can pay a monthly flat fee of $5 to get as many generic versions of medications as they need. Amazon said that initially the service will cover generic drugs for 80 common ailments — they include, for example, Losartan (the generic for the hypertension drug Cozaar) and Sertraline (the generic for antidepressant Zoloft) and hair-growth pills. It’s worth noting that coupons can’t be applied in addition to RxPass.
Amazon has been looking to expand its ambitions in healthcare for many years. The company has bought startups and launched new services and products in aid of that mission. Amazon acquired online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 and closed its $3.9 billion acquisition of primary care tech platform OneMedical last month. Last year, it launched a telehealth service called Amazon Clinic.