Amazon’s biggest healthcare moves in 2024

The trend: Amazon wants more Prime members to become healthcare and pharmacy customers. To make it happen, the e-commerce giant is dangling affordable, easy access to care and treatment through a range of new services.

Here’s our take on Amazon’s 3 biggest healthcare moves in 2024:

1. Expanded same-day Rx delivery

By the end of 2025, 45% of US consumers are expected to be eligible for free, same-day delivery of their prescription medications at Amazon Pharmacy.

Why it matters: Amazon wants to capture market share from retail pharmacies that are closing stores across the US. Its CEO Andy Jassy noted on a recent earnings call that drugstore theft and items being locked up as a result are hurting the customer experience and driving business to Amazon Pharmacy.

What’s next? Amazon acknowledged that raising consumer awareness of Amazon Pharmacy’s offerings will be critical to growing its business. It will need to do a better job of reaching the nearly half of brick-and-mortar pharmacy customers who say they have not heard of digital pharmacies, per JD Power’s 2024 US Pharmacy Study.

Key stat: As of earlier this year, about 13% of US adults say they’ve used Amazon Pharmacy in the past 12 months, per M3 MI data shared with EMARKETER.

2. Medicare beneficiaries get access to RxPass

RxPass is Amazon Pharmacy’s prescription drug discount program for generic medications. It was launched in 2023 for Prime members but initially excluded Medicare.

Now, Prime members in 46 US states who have Medicare insurance can access about 60 generic medications for a flat fee of $5 per month with no restrictions on the number of prescriptions. Drugs offered through RxPass treat common health conditions such as high blood pressure, anxiety, and acid reflux.

Why it matters: Over half of seniors report taking four or more prescription drugs regularly, according to KFF data cited by Amazon.

Amazon says that a Medicare beneficiary who takes at least one medication available through RxPass could save approximately $70 per year—or half the price of an annual Prime membership.

3. It consolidated Amazon Clinic into One Medical and expanded its telehealth business to include fixed pricing.

Amazon Clinic, a D2C telehealth venture, is now called Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit. The entity recently pushed further into the D2C healthcare market to include upfront, fixed pricing for the treatment of five conditions—skin care, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, eyelash growth, and motion sickness.

Why it matters: Consumers have two options to get care within the One Medical brand—and both are more accessible to Prime members than non-members.

Pay-per-visit provides Prime members with a direct alternative to some of the same products and services that drive sales for D2C healthcare companies such as Hims & Hers and Ro. Amazon hopes to capture some of this market.

Meanwhile, consumers who want more comprehensive medical care than what Pay-per-visit offers could opt for a One Medical subscription. Amazon is offering One Medical at a steep discount for Prime members and their families.

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