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What is Good Rx and how does it work? 'Gamechanger' app trends as it offers unbelievable discounts on meds

The company is already a household name for making prescription drugs cheaper

GoodRx was one of those trends that sent Twitter in a tizzy. The nine-year-old digital health company garnered positive reactions from netizens for the way its system works. The 2011-founded company went public last year with $388 million in 2019 revenue and $139 million in operating profit, according to Forbes. The company is a household name for making prescription drugs cheaper as it offers discounts to consumers. It also enables consumers to shop from a pharmacy that gives them the best of both worlds — price and convenience of picking them up.

Seth Joseph of Forbes decodes the working principle of GoodRx as it makes revenue only when it helps the consumers save money. The primary question is the need for GoodRx in the first place as the process is quite simple: Visit the physician and obtain a prescription. Step number two is the pharmacy filling it up and once ready, the consumer picks up his medicine. Although the process is simpler, GoodRx comes in to assist with the ability to let the consumer know if the same medicine can be bought cheaper at a different store.

How does it work?

The official GoodRx site says: "In less than 90 seconds, see how GoodRx provides prices and discounts for prescription drugs to save you up to 80%." Reports say GoodRx is accepted by 70,000 pharmacies in the United States that also includes known pharmacists and giants—Costco, Kroger, Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. Clark.com suggests that GoodRx is better than insurance. "If you have insurance, compare the GoodRx price to your insurance co-pay and see which is cheaper. You can always use GoodRx instead of your insurance," it reads.

And since we're on the topic of insurance and healthcare, the latter sparking the need to talk about GoodRx, the website and mobile app allows consumers without insurance to gain entry to Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) and help negotiate the prices of the medicine in comparison to the pharmacies' usual prices. 

What are the reactions to GoodRx currently?

In short, the response is largely positive. "even if you have "good" insurance this can save ur ass... i recently was finally able to start the Med That Lets Me Eat Food bc goodrx makes it NOT $500/month, and i save on my other meds too," read one of the tweets. "Agreed. I have good insurance that refuses to cover more than 1/2 of the only migraine medicine (Frova) that works for me. Full price is $651 for 9 pills. I use GoodRX, pay $90 (instead of $325) for 9 pills (to be refilled monthly, used abortively, only after getting migraine)," read another.

"GoodRX is a "game changer" for the prescription drugs insurance industry! It is their NIGHTMARE! Do you really need to pay drug insurance premiums, a $200 deductible, and then a $20 co-pay that many prescription drugs insurance charge? Not if you use #GoodRX!" one of the users opined. The testimonials followed making the app a trend. "My insurance doesn’t cover one of my meds... $160 bucks; my doc rec’d GoodRX, now only $20 for 90 day supply. I thought it was a scam, but it’s great!"