Is this the rumbling in the jungle? Is it just Amazon and Walmart vying for new territory? These corporations are taking major steps to target a commodity that every customer buys: healthcare.
While the world appears to be reaching the end of the pandemic, mere access to healthcare remains a daily challenge, with Americans waiting an average of 26 days to see a doctor.
To compound things, many people are unable to obtain healthcare owing to a lack of insurance and high copays. These are serious challenges that both Amazon and Walmart are working to solve in their own unique but strangely similar ways.
Who has the cheapest prescription?
The provision of low-cost prescription services heralded the arrival of the two retail behemoths into the healthcare industry.
In February 2017, Walmart made waves when it announced access to prescription refill service via its mobile app, allowing consumers to pick up medication from over 4,500 pharmacies. To make things even easier, the company’s pharmacy locations charged $4 for 30-day prescriptions and $10 for 90-day dosages.
The pharmacy business is now one of the company’s primary products.
Amazon’s acquisition of PillPack comes just a year after Walmart launched its mobile pharmacy. The newly acquired firm later served as the cornerstone for Amazon Pharmacy, which was followed by the debut of the virtual health product Amazon Clinic in 2022.
Based on its success, Amazon recently introduced RxPass, an online service that gives Amazon Pharmacy patients access to generic drugs for $5 per month, delivered to their homes for free.
“Navigating insurance may be a maze, and traveling to the pharmacy can be a nuisance,” said Dr. Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy’s chief medical officer, in a statement. “It has sometimes resulted in terrible consequences,” Gupta noted. “Fresh drugs are not filled, refills are not picked up, and patients suffer. Our healthcare system’s shortcomings make what should be simple complicated.”
