Why Prescriptions May Get Cheaper in 2025 – Technologist

If you’re used to paying a premium for your prescriptions, you’ll love two recent developments. Money expert Clark Howard says they have the potential to help your wallet when you need medications from your local pharmacy.

He’s excited about two big things that have happened recently on the pharmacy front: 

• Amazon expands same-day delivery for prescriptions.
• Walmart launches nationwide same-day prescription delivery.

In this article, we’ll cover the big news about Amazon’s and Walmart’s same-day delivery plans as well as what it means for customers, according to Clark.

Clark: ‘Prescriptions Are Going To Be a Lot Cheaper’

Clark says the changes come as CVS and other pharmacies are closing hundreds of locations in the United States, which has major repercussions for the industry. 

“What this is about is that consumers are basically saying, ‘We’re not paying the huge prices we might get stuck with at Walgreens and CVS,’” Clark says.

What’s in store for consumers? Clark says good things:

“As a general rule, prescriptions are going to be a lot cheaper for you than CVS and Walgreens and you get it that same day,” Clark says. “And in Walmart’s case, they’re offering 30-minute delivery for prescriptions. Let’s see if they can live up to that.”

Amazon Expands Same-Day Prescription Delivery

Amazon says it is expanding its same-day delivery service to 20 more U.S. cities. It is already in the following cities: Austin, College Station, Texas (drone delivery only), Indianapolis, Greater Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Phoenix and Seattle.

Although the company has not yet named all the new cities, Amazon did say this in its news release:

“With the expansion into new cities, customers in Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Diego, and other metropolitan areas will soon enjoy fast, free delivery of their medications,” Amazon says. “Other cities will be announced in the coming months.”

Amazon says that by the end of 2025, almost 45% of its customers in America are expected to have access to its same-day delivery medication services. “In most cases, that means a customer can order medication by 4 p.m. and receive it at home by 10 p.m.,” Amazon says in the news release.

Clark says he likes what he sees from Amazon so far and it should help your wallets.

“More and more people as we move into the first quarter of 2025 are going to have access to what are pretty reasonable prices from the Amazon pharmacy operations,” he says. “And this is going to spread all over the country.”

Want to know more about how Amazon handles prescriptions? Read our guide on Amazon pharmacy.

Walmart Launches Same-Day Prescription Delivery

Walmart says its same-day prescription service will be available in 49 states by the end of 2025. As of now, it’s offered in six states: Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Here are some features of Walmart’s pharmacy delivery that you may love:

• If you’re a Walmart+ member, you’ll get free delivery on your medications. Non-Walmart+ members will pay the standard delivery charge of $9.95, says the company.
• Based on where its nearly 4,600 stores are located around the United States, Walmart says its same-day delivery will be in proximity to more than 86% of households.
• And coming soon, Walmart says, “Customers will have the option to choose On-Demand or Express Delivery. With these options, they’ll be able to receive their prescription within hours or with Express Delivery in as soon as 30 minutes.”

In addition to being available at Walmart.com, the company says prescription delivery is being integrated into its app (Android or iOS). This means “customers will be able to seamlessly add prescriptions along with other items from their local Walmart in a single order, available both in-app and online.”

Final Thoughts

If you’re worried about how much your prescriptions cost, now’s the time to be intentional about finding ways to save on your medications. This includes looking closely at the available options.

“The options for you to save on scrips are getting better and better and better,” Clark says. “This is an area where it felt like the train only went one way, but that’s not true anymore. CVS and Walgreens will either have to adapt or they will die, and that’s just a fact.”

“It’s actually a good thing that we have all these others that are stepping in, like Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company, which is silently growing. I’m excited because this is an industry that needed change, and it’s happening,” Clark says.

Will Mark Cuban’s subscription company save you money? Listen to Clark’s interview with Mark.

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