Amazon Prime ups its pharmacy game

Amazon Prime members now get $5 prescription medications in addition to their free shipping and online movies. And the $5 monthly fee is for all of their commonly prescribed generic medications – not $5 per prescription, but $5 for all of them.

Dubbed RxPass, the new service is launching in most states today. It will cover medications for more than 80 chronic conditions and includes the likes of amoxicillin, naproxen, estradiol, and sildenafil.

“Any customer who pays more than $10 a month for their eligible medications will see their prescription costs drop by 50% or more, plus they save time by skipping a trip to the pharmacy,” said John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy, in a statement.

The RxPass is in addition to the Prime prescription savings benefit to get discounts of 80% off generic and 40% off name brand medications, either from local participating pharmacies or its PillPack service.

The RxPass is the latest entry in health care for Amazon, which also has forayed into nutrition, telehealth, clinical research, and medical devices. The company acquired PillPack five years ago to launch its efforts in the pharmaceutical space.

To enroll in RxPass, Prime members need to update their Amazon Pharmacy profile. Once there, customers will be guided through a sign-up process that verifies their eligibility and prescription information.