I used Amazon's new RxPass to get my prescriptions for just $5. It took forever and I probably won't use it again.

Yeji Jesse LeeFeb 15, 2023, 20:56 IST

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

Amazon Pharmacy just launched a prescription service for generic medicines.
I tried it out and paid a $5 monthly fee to receive generic medicines.

Amazon just launched a new prescription subscription.

For a $5 flat fee, Amazon Prime members can get access to generic medications for 80 common health conditions, like allergies, anxiety, and diabetes.

The subscription, called RxPass, is an extension of Amazon Pharmacy, which allows shoppers to get their prescription drugs delivered straight to their door — just like their toilet paper or dog food.

But instead of paying for each medication separately, the pass offers customers a way to lower their healthcare costs by grouping all their generic medicines together with a low monthly fee. It's Amazon's latest healthcare experiment, after the tech giant launched a virtual clinic in November and struck a deal to buy One Medical in July.

I decided to see how the RxPass works first hand by ordering my generic medicine through the new service. While I don't take multiple generic medicines, I saw that ordering my single medicine through RxPass would still save me a few dollars each month.

RxPass is billed as a way to help patients save time and money but in the end, I spent over an hour on 7 different phone calls to my doctor's office and the pharmacy to get my medicine.

In a statement, Dr. Vin Gupta, chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy, said: "We are always listening to patient feedback to improve our products and services, and we'll continue to do that with RxPass."

Here's what I did to get my medicine from Amazon Pharmacy's new RxPass.

I decided to try out Amazon Pharmacy’s new RxPass to see if I could shave a few dollars off my generic medicine each month.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

First, I had to create an RxPass account and fill in some personal details.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I also verified my phone number and set up a 4-digit code so that my medical information would be private — even from others who shared my Amazon Prime account. I liked that Amazon set up this safeguard because it gave me a sense of privacy.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I also verified my phone number and set up a 4-digit code so that my medical information would be private — even from others who shared my Amazon Prime account. I liked that Amazon set up this safeguard because it gave me a sense of privacy.

Then I added my credit card to pay for the service.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

After answering some questions about my current medications, health history, and allergies, it was time to choose the medicines I wanted.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

According to Amazon, RxPass offers generic drugs that target 80 common health conditions, which seems impressive. You can find the medicines you want based on the name of the medicine or the condition you're looking to treat.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

According to Amazon, RxPass offers generic drugs that target 80 common health conditions, which seems impressive. You can find the medicines you want based on the name of the medicine or the condition you're looking to treat.

I had an allergy prescription and was happy to find that two different medicines I had prescriptions for were included through RxPass.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I clicked through and landed at a page that gave me four different options for the drug that I could choose from. I chose the first option, but failed to realize that it didn't have the tiny label marking it as "Included with RxPass."

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I clicked through and landed at a page that gave me four different options for the drug that I could choose from. I chose the first option, but failed to realize that it didn't have the tiny label marking it as "Included with RxPass."

That’s when my troubles began. I transferred my prescription from CVS Pharmacy over to Amazon Pharmacy by filling in my prescriber information and my old pharmacy address.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

That’s when my troubles began. I transferred my prescription from CVS Pharmacy over to Amazon Pharmacy by filling in my prescriber information and my old pharmacy address.

Amazon told me it received my transfer request and said that it would let me know when my medicine was ready to be checked out.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

Five days after I requested my prescription transfer, I got an email saying that my medicine was ready. That was relatively easy, I thought! Unfortunately, no.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

When I tried to check out for free using RxPass, I saw that I was being asked to pay $13.40.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

After a lot of searching, I realized that the medicine I picked was missing the tiny label that read "Included with RxPass," even though the medicine name was included on RxPass' list of available medicines.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

After a lot of searching, I realized that the medicine I picked was missing the tiny label that read "Included with RxPass," even though the medicine name was included on RxPass' list of available medicines.

I clicked through the other links and saw the same thing — if you try to find a medicine through RxPass' list of available drugs, the site will link you to the wider Amazon Pharmacy site, where you have to wade through a list of options to find one that is included with the RxPass.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I clicked through the other links and saw the same thing — if you try to find a medicine through RxPass' list of available drugs, the site will link you to the wider Amazon Pharmacy site, where you have to wade through a list of options to find one that is included with the RxPass.

Back to square one. Luckily I had a different medicine that was definitely included with RxPass.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

So I did the whole thing again — asked to transfer my prescription to Amazon Pharmacy then waited as my prescription went under a review.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

After a week of waiting, this time I received an email saying that my prescription was no longer available.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I called Amazon Pharmacy's customer care number and the rep told me that my doctor had prescribed my medicine in a way that "didn't exist" in their system. After making a series of calls between my doctor's office and Amazon Pharmacy, it turned out that my doctor had prescribed the medicine in a slightly different way than how Amazon Pharmacy categorized the medicine in their system.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I called Amazon Pharmacy's customer care number and the rep told me that my doctor had prescribed my medicine in a way that "didn't exist" in their system. After making a series of calls between my doctor's office and Amazon Pharmacy, it turned out that my doctor had prescribed the medicine in a slightly different way than how Amazon Pharmacy categorized the medicine in their system.

I had to call my doctor to ask them to re-prescribe my medicine. They did, but that meant I'd have to start the process all over again.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

Not wanting to wait another week, I called Amazon again the next day and asked if there was a way for me to get my medicines more quickly. The phone rep was able to mark my case as “important” and said that should expedite the process.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

Not wanting to wait another week, I called Amazon again the next day and asked if there was a way for me to get my medicines more quickly. The phone rep was able to mark my case as “important” and said that should expedite the process.

When I checked my account the following day, I saw I was finally able to check out my medicine for $0 under RxPass. I placed my order and the tracker showed that I should expect my package the next day.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

When I checked my account the following day, I saw I was finally able to check out my medicine for $0 under RxPass. I placed my order and the tracker showed that I should expect my package the next day.

Two and a half weeks after making my RxPass account, I finally got my package with my medicine (which, by the way, is also sold over the counter).

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I plan to cancel my RxPass soon. I can see why people with expensive generic medicines taken over a long period of time might find the service useful, but I think I'll stick to taking a 10 minute walk to my pharmacy and picking up my drugs in person.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

I plan to cancel my RxPass soon. I can see why people with expensive generic medicines taken over a long period of time might find the service useful, but I think I'll stick to taking a 10 minute walk to my pharmacy and picking up my drugs in person.

Unlimited generic prescriptions may sound like an awesome idea, but in reality this experience showed me it's really hard to build and pull off an entirely new system.

Yeji Jesse Lee/Insider

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I used Amazon's new RxPass to get my prescriptions for just $5. It took forever and I probably won't use it again.

I decided to try out Amazon Pharmacy’s new RxPass to see if I could shave a few dollars off my generic medicine each month.

First, I had to create an RxPass account and fill in some personal details.

I also verified my phone number and set up a 4-digit code so that my medical information would be private — even from others who shared my Amazon Prime account. I liked that Amazon set up this safeguard because it gave me a sense of privacy.

Then I added my credit card to pay for the service.

After answering some questions about my current medications, health history, and allergies, it was time to choose the medicines I wanted.

According to Amazon, RxPass offers generic drugs that target 80 common health conditions, which seems impressive. You can find the medicines you want based on the name of the medicine or the condition you're looking to treat.

I had an allergy prescription and was happy to find that two different medicines I had prescriptions for were included through RxPass.

I clicked through and landed at a page that gave me four different options for the drug that I could choose from. I chose the first option, but failed to realize that it didn't have the tiny label marking it as "Included with RxPass."

That’s when my troubles began. I transferred my prescription from CVS Pharmacy over to Amazon Pharmacy by filling in my prescriber information and my old pharmacy address.

Amazon told me it received my transfer request and said that it would let me know when my medicine was ready to be checked out.

Five days after I requested my prescription transfer, I got an email saying that my medicine was ready. That was relatively easy, I thought! Unfortunately, no.

When I tried to check out for free using RxPass, I saw that I was being asked to pay $13.40.

After a lot of searching, I realized that the medicine I picked was missing the tiny label that read "Included with RxPass," even though the medicine name was included on RxPass' list of available medicines.

I clicked through the other links and saw the same thing — if you try to find a medicine through RxPass' list of available drugs, the site will link you to the wider Amazon Pharmacy site, where you have to wade through a list of options to find one that is included with the RxPass.

Back to square one. Luckily I had a different medicine that was definitely included with RxPass.

So I did the whole thing again — asked to transfer my prescription to Amazon Pharmacy then waited as my prescription went under a review.

After a week of waiting, this time I received an email saying that my prescription was no longer available.

I had to call my doctor to ask them to re-prescribe my medicine. They did, but that meant I'd have to start the process all over again.

Not wanting to wait another week, I called Amazon again the next day and asked if there was a way for me to get my medicines more quickly. The phone rep was able to mark my case as “important” and said that should expedite the process.

When I checked my account the following day, I saw I was finally able to check out my medicine for $0 under RxPass. I placed my order and the tracker showed that I should expect my package the next day.

Two and a half weeks after making my RxPass account, I finally got my package with my medicine (which, by the way, is also sold over the counter).

I plan to cancel my RxPass soon. I can see why people with expensive generic medicines taken over a long period of time might find the service useful, but I think I'll stick to taking a 10 minute walk to my pharmacy and picking up my drugs in person.

Unlimited generic prescriptions may sound like an awesome idea, but in reality this experience showed me it's really hard to build and pull off an entirely new system.