Study: Online Pharmacies Could Save Patients Millions

Facts

• According to a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, Americans could potentially save millions each year by buying prescription drugs through online pharmacy discount programs — such as GoodRx and Amazon Pharmacy — rather than traditional insurance plans and retail pharmacy chains.¹
• Comparing out-of-pocket payments from the 2020 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to the 2023 counterfactual discount card pricing of Amazon Prime and GoodRx Gold for 20 generic medications, it found that Amazon and GoodRx were about 20% and 43% cheaper, respectively.²
• The researchers from the University of Toledo in Ohio, who analyzed those with private health insurance, public health insurance, and no insurance, also found that at least 1 out of 5 prescriptions were cheaper through Amazon or GoodRx compared to traditional out-of-pocket payments.¹
• The amount of excess out-of-pocket payment for drugs in the deductible phase for both companies was also 40% and 79%, respectively. Total annual cost savings for consumers amounted to $969M for Amazon and $1.83B for GoodRx.²
• The findings were similar to those of another study published in the same journal in 2022, which found that the public healthcare program Medicare could have saved billions by using fellow online pharmacy competitor Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.¹
• The study's authors, however, warn that discount companies' reliance on "pharmacy benefit managers" for claims adjudication and access to pharmacy networks hinder long-term solutions. Therefore, they call for value-based insurance designs for a lasting and comprehensive strategy.²

Sources: ¹NBC and ²Medicalxpress.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Forbes. Between the sky-high prices of pharmaceuticals in America and the growing demand for online services in the wake of the COVID pandemic, Americans both want and need cheap and efficient online pharmacies like the services offered by Amazon. Beyond the cost-effectiveness of online deliveries, these transparent services will also force drug manufacturers to lower prices if they wish to remain competitive. The US is financially drowning over what should be an easily affordable product, but, thankfully, e-commerce has a proven solution.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Washington Post. While large pharmaceutical corporations functioning as "platforms" seem to be the future of the industry, small, independently-owned pharmacies are actually more efficient and popular than the big chains. While online corporations have advantages over brick-and-mortar franchises like CVS and Walgreens, vital mom-and-pop drugstores are being left out of the conversation. Government policies are geared toward supporting these goliath companies, so we should rewrite the law to boost local pharmacies rather than national chains or e-commerce giants.