Amazon Pharmacy (AMZN) announced Tuesday it will be the latest healthcare player to sell some insulins to diabetes patients for $35 in what the company said is an effort to add more transparency to drug costs.
The company said in its announcement it will use automatic coupons to offer patients a final price on some insulins for as little as $35, similar to offerings from some pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and directly from the biggest manufacturers.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Amazon Pharmacy chief medical officer Dr. Vin Gupta said the automatic coupons are a key differentiator.
"People either don't know about [these discounts] or simply can't get access to it because there's some sort of inefficiency, and that's what we're solving for," Gupta said.
Amazon is offering the same discount insulin manufacturers including Novo Nordisk (NVO), Eli Lilly (LLY), Sanofi (SNY), Dexcom (DXCM), and Insulet (PODD) are offering for about 15 insulin products.
Some manufacturers also offer insulin for as low as $25 and have programs for those eligible to get the products for free.
But these discounts from other companies entail a multi-step process to activate or redeem the discounted price. As a clinician, Gupta said he has seen how frustrating the lack of transparency can be for patients.
"The solutions exist. Coupons have long existed...far before Amazon Pharmacy, frankly, ever existed. We recognize that," Gupta said.
The move Tuesday also marks Amazon's latest expansion in health care under CEO Andy Jassy.
The e-commerce giant acquired health care provider One Medical earlier this year and announced its telehealth services would now be available in 50 states. The pharmacy offerings have also expanded this year to include Prime membership pricing for select drugs, as well as discounts on generics and some branded drugs.
In addition to the private sector efforts, the Inflation Reduction Act set a cap of $35 for insulin products for Medicare beneficiaries. Lobbying efforts by the American Diabetes Association have also helped pass state-level caps as low as $25 per month for state-regulated health plans, according to ADA CEO Chuck Henderson.
Henderson told Yahoo Finance that while the drugmakers have offered lower capped prices, "we need more transparency. We need more people to be disruptive like an Amazon Pharmacy."
"Diabetes is the most expensive chronic illness in the US, and our community has paid an enormous price," Henderson said.
Diabetics are also the primary patient population for popular GLP-1 drugs, like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, which have increasingly come under scrutiny by some employer plans.
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