Feeling stretched thin by the high cost of prescriptions? Blink Health is a prescription discounter that promises low prices on tens of thousands of popular medications.
Here’s What You Need to Know About Blink Health
In recent years, we’ve told you about GoodRx, RxSaver and SingleCare. All of them help you comparison shop the cost of your prescriptions and have some similarities to Blink Health.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what differentiates Blink, how it works and which pharmacies it partners with. Plus, we’ll show you how much money Blink can save you on five common prescriptions.
Table of Contents
- What Is Blink Health?
- How Does Blink Health Work?
- What Pharmacies Work With Blink Health?
- How Does Blink Health Make Money?
- How Do I Join Blink Health?
- Can I Use Blink Health if I Don’t Have a Prescription?
- How Much Can You Really Save With Blink Health?
- Can Blink Health Be Combined With Insurance?
1. What Is Blink Health?
Calling itself “the cure for high drug prices,” Blink Health is a discount prescription service that gets volume discounts on 15,000 different medications and passes the savings along to you.
You use it as either an app on your phone and/or a website on your desktop computer.
Blink says the more people use its services, the better the discounts will be.
2. How Does Blink Health Work?
Using Blink is easy. Just follow this simple three-step process:
- Search for your medicine by name and dosage online or in the app (Android and iOS)
- Select the price and delivery option you prefer
- Pay and get your medication at a steep discount off list price
There are two basic methods of delivery through Blink Health:
- Pay online and pick up at a local pharmacy
- Order home delivery of your medication from a licensed U.S. pharmacy partner
3. What Pharmacies Work With Blink Health?
Blink says it has partnerships with 35,000 pharmacies nationwide, including:
- Acme
- Albertsons
- Costco
- Giant
- Harris Teeter
- Kroger
- Publix
- Ralphs
- Safeway
- ShopRite
- Stop & Shop
- Walmart
That’s just a partial list of the many, many pharmacies that accept Blink. You can find a participating pharmacy near you by searching on the Blink Health website or in the app.
Meanwhile, if your local pharmacy doesn’t participate with Blink, you can request that they start doing so. Just direct them to this link to get started.
4. How Does Blink Health Make Money?
Per its FAQs, Blink says it makes “a small percentage on every transaction made on blinkhealth.com or in the Blink Health app.”
The company goes on to note that its “business model and technology platform allow us to make a fair profit without inflating drug prices for customers.”
They claim you get the same FDA-approved medication sold in pharmacies without getting gouged on prices.
5. How Do I Join Blink Health?
The great news about Blink is that there’s nothing to join, register or sign up for. All you have to do is log on from your desktop or mobile phone and save money.
Since this is not insurance, that means there are never any:
- Monthly fees to pay
- Claim forms to fill out
- Deductibles you have to meet, or
- Eligibility requirements you have to meet when using Blink Health
And if you’re concerned about the privacy of your data with Blink, you can rest easy. You don’t have to disclose your email, phone number, Facebook account or any other personal information to get the savings.
“We do not share or sell personal information, ever,” Blink notes in its FAQs. “We have implemented data security measures that are consistent with the HIPAA security regulations.”
You can read more about Blink Health’s privacy policy here.
6. Can I Use Blink Health if I Don’t Have a Prescription?
Blink Health really differentiates itself from the competition by offering telemedicine services. That’s just another way it removes all the pain points in connecting people with the medication they need.
The idea is this: For select medications, you don’t even need to start with a prescription. Blink will connect you online with a licensed practitioner who can write the prescription for you in about 24 hours.
Once you have your virtual prescription, the company fills it at their usual low prices and delivers right to your door with free shipping.
These online doctor visits are available for the following common conditions:
- Acid reflux
- Birth control
- Cold sores
- Erectile dysfunction
- Hair loss
- High cholesterol
The initial consultation is just $5 and you get the first month of the prescription for any of the conditions listed above for free. After that, you pay a monthly recurring charge of $9.95 plus the cost of a refill.
Here’s an example from the Blink website about how pricing would work for one common medication upon refill:
$9.95 (monthly subscription) + $6.95 (sildenafil, 10 tablets, 20 mg) = $16.90/month
To cancel a subscription, you can call 844-484-5109 or send an email to [email protected].
7. How Much Can You Really Save With Blink Health?
Blink Health says it will save you up to 80% off the list price of 15,000 medications — and their claim holds up in most cases:
| Drug Name/Dose | Average Retail Price | Blink Home Delivery Price | Blink Everyday Low Price | Blink Smart Deal Price (Select Pharmacies Only) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Losartan (Cozaar) – 50 mg, 30 count | $39.23 | $4.20 | $3.90 | $3.74 |
| Duloxetine (Cymbalta) – 60 mg, 30 count | $134.94 | $7.99 | $8.90 | $8.90 |
| Levofloxacin (Levaquin, Quixin) – 500 mg, 10 count | $111.21 | N/A | $9.90 | $8.13 |
| Prednisone (Deltasone) – 5 mg, 30 count | N/A | $3.00 | $11.11 | $3.73 |
| Fluticasone Propionate (Flonase) - 1 Nasal spray, 16g of 50mcg | $44.84 | N/A | $13.60 | $9.63 |
As you can see, Blink has three pricing options:
- Home Delivery Price
- Everyday Low Price
- Blink Smart Deal Price
The Blink Everyday Low Price is the price you can get at any participating pharmacy, while the Blink Smart Deal Price is only available at select pharmacies. Both options involve you picking up the medication on your own at a pharmacy.
The Home Delivery Price comes with free shipping and involves medication being shipped to you from a licensed U.S.-based pharmacy partner of Blink’s.
Right now, Blink is offering $10 off your first order, which is automatically applied at checkout for first-time customers only.
8. Can Blink Health Be Combined With Insurance?
Unfortunately, you can’t stack the savings offered by Blink on top of your insurance.
However, Blink Health can be used by people in a variety of health coverage situations:
- Those with prescription drug coverage
- The uninsured
- Medicare recipients
So, you could have have prescription drug coverage, but choose to pay with Blink instead — if it offers you a cheaper price than running your medication through insurance.
Likewise, you can use Blink if it’s cheaper even when you have Medicare.
Finally, no insurance? No problem. You can use Blink, too.
Final Thought
Blink Health has some unique factors that really make it stand out from the crowd — especially the ability to get a prescription online from the comfort of your own home.
Of course, Blink is far from the only game in town when it comes to new ways to save money on prescriptions.
As mentioned earlier, you’ve also got GoodRx, RxSaver and SingleCare. Be sure to comparison-shop those three in addition to Blink to get the best price on your medication needs.
Meanwhile, you’ll also want to check out our article on 10 Ways to Save on Prescription Drugs.
