On Tuesday, June 8, Amazon shares climbed 1.7% at $3,266.44 as it launched its own pharmacy unit with six-month prescriptions in the U.S. that starts at $6.
The customers of the world’s largest online retailer can pay as low as $1 per month for selected medications.
The offer includes 13 generic alternatives for medicines that treat diabetes, blood pressure, and other ailments. It also sells Lipitor substitutes.
A free two-day shipping fee is available, however, it is only for those who have a prescription.
Amazon aims to change how the pharmacy business works in the same way it did for retail.
Last November 2020, the e-pharmacy was launched and it is working with major insurers.
However, the firm announced that its customers can save more by bypassing their insurers and just use Amazon Prime instead.
In a statement, a company representative said that its users can use Amazon Pharmacy even without having insurance.
He added that whether a customer has coverage or not, the e-pharmacy will show the copay price with insurance.
It includes the lowest price without insurance as well as any savings for the members of Amazon Prime.
Prime members will be able to receive additional savings on paying even in the absence of insurance.
They would save up to 80% on generic drugs and 40% branded prescription medications, the firm added.
Under the offer, any customer can search for their medicines by name and find out if it is entitled to a six-month supply.
Also, they will be able to see the medication price with Prime prescription savings benefit.
According to the company, the supplies will only be available for customers with prescriptions from their healthcare providers.
Bid Evaluation
Meanwhile, Amazon is having a bid evaluation to replace U.S. lender JPMorgan Chase & Co as the issuer on the company’s co-branded credit card portfolio.
A trusted source stated that the firm has sent out a request for a proposal for the portfolio, however, this matter is not yet public.
JPMorgan could get a 15% premium if it is replaced as an associate in the portfolio, which contains over $15 billion in credit card lending.
The financial firms American Express Co and Synchrony Financial were among the bidders on Amazon’s portfolio.
The world’s largest online retailer and the financial service holding company first issued a joint card back in 2002.
Their offerings have been operating for so long on the Visa Inc network.
