
Nurx (YC W16) Will Deliver Prescription Medication to Your Door for Free - apsec112
http://www.7x7.com/culture/nurx-will-deliver-prescription-birth-control-your-door-free
======
craigds
> If you're a woman living in the United States, you already know that getting
> your hands on birth control can be a complex and expensive process.

I'm not a woman nor in the US, so this was news to me. It's really easy and
cheap here in NZ, so it surprised me that this is still a problem in any
developed nations.

Can anyone add more background on what the difficulties are in the US?

~~~
Amorymeltzer
Up until recently, it wasn't guaranteed to be covered under your health
insurance. The ACA — "Obamacare" — required plans to cover many options, but
it's not guaranteed that your preferred option(s) will available. Generally,
coverage is supposed to be free, but again, only certain options may be free
(generics only, for example) and some may require a significant copay (IUDs, I
believe).

For the birth control pill, you still A. need a prescription (which usually
means you need to occasionally make an appointment, take off work, and see a
doctor, probably not for free), and B. need that prescription to be filled.
Oftentimes, that means picking up a new package of pills in a five-day window
during semi-limited business hours because many pharmacies avoid giving out an
extra supply. Planning for a vacation can be a pain (1-month notice) but an
emergency trip is almost undoable.

Not every pharmacy even needs to carry the birth control pill or other
options, so it's a very real scenario that people may not have access to their
preferred method. Recent court challenges (Hobby Lobby in particular) have
made it more complicated and allowed some companies to NOT provide such
coverage.

Also, pharmacies have not been above charging women for products that should
be free.

Lots more detailed info here: [http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-birth-
control/](http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-birth-control/)

IANAW but I am married to one.

~~~
bdrool
On the other hand, you can walk into a Walgreens and get "Plan B" over the
counter (without a prescription). Some parts of the US don't do as good a job
at stocking it, but in a place like the Bay Area, it's a piece of cake.

~~~
Amorymeltzer
Plan B is to be taken as an emergency contraceptive; it is should not be used
as a normal, routine method of birth control.

~~~
danieltillett
Given how unpleasant the experience is I doubt any woman would choose plan B
as a routine contraceptive.

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ksenzee
Interesting. Looks like a combination of PillPack/ScriptDash plus a doctor on
staff to handle the prescriptions. The most annoying part of getting birth
control is jumping through the hoop of getting a doctor to prescribe it, so
this is definitely valuable. I hope it catches on and manages to expand.

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dang
Given what [http://blog.ycombinator.com/nurx-yc-w16-prescribes-and-
deliv...](http://blog.ycombinator.com/nurx-yc-w16-prescribes-and-delivers-
medications-on-demand-to-your-door) says, and the madness this thread is going
to descend into otherwise, I think we can justify a s/Birth
Control/Medication/ on the title.

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JoblessWonder
This app is going to run up against the thorny issue of telemedicine
legislation if they ever want to expand from California. California is a
pretty easy state to start out in, but a lot of states have some pretty...
interesting... views on telemedicine.

~~~
kylemccarthy
We (Nurx) have already expanded to New York and will be expanding to many more
states in the coming weeks.

~~~
JoblessWonder
Thanks for the comment. It seems like a great product but I'd imagine you will
have to re-tool it for states that have stricter telemedicine laws, correct?
For example, the ones that require a video conference or things along those
lines. Those were the states I was referring to.

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jakegarelick
Applied there last year - didn't know they were going through YC. Good luck to
them!

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sna1l
Doesn't it seem like these specialized delivery services will kind of get
trampled when self driving cars become commonplace? I feel like there will be
1-2 big delivery companies (Google + whoever else figures out self driving
cars) and then companies like Postmates, Doordash, etc will go out of
business. Or maybe Google will provide them with the infrastructure to
actually have profitable business.

The doctor on staff providing prescriptions definitely increases the barrier
to entry, but I don't think it is something that will hold up in the long run.

Disclaimer: I'm not a woman, so my perspective could be (read: probably is)
complete bullshit

~~~
temuze
You're describing the process of actually delivering - that's currently
UPS/FedEx, etc. They will certainly struggle with Amazon in the near future
(and maybe Google). Shipping will always be owned by the big guys because it's
a tough, expensive problem.

But ecommerce? That will always be open to smaller players because the start-
up cost is low (you develop a way to sell it and give it to a shipping
service).

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WestOfRome
Looks like delivery free and $15 for the meds

So, exactly the same as existing services like
[https://lemonaidhealth.com/](https://lemonaidhealth.com/)?

~~~
Edvard
Hey @WestOfRome we prescribe AND deliver. One stop shop for birth control and
Truvada for PrEP. Our friends at lemonaid get you a 3month prescription for a
cash. We get you a 13month prescription for free.

~~~
sumeetsheokand
Hey @Edvard, Truvada needs a prescription. Are you licensed to receive a
prescription from the doctor?

~~~
Edvard
Doctors prescribe both Truvada and Birth control on our platform :) There is
no automated system dispensing drugs. A licensed physician reviews each
request.

~~~
sumeetsheokand
Thanks for the response. So, you guys are creating a 3-way market with
Customer, Doctor and Pharmacy (Invisible to the user)? Sounds like a huge
play.

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chaostheory
It's too bad that this doesn't seem to be viable in the 3rd world (yet). It's
needed there far more than here. (Not that this service isn't useful here.)

~~~
quantum_nerd
please stop referring to it as the 3rd World.This classification is
outdated(colonialism ended centuries ago), insulting and condescending(trust
me no one wants to be reminded every day how poor and miserable they are, even
if it was true).

Here are a few alternatives for you: * Developing World ( still patronizing,
but a better alternative) * Majority World ( yea, actually the US and Western
Europe are just a small fraction of the global population) * Middle-Income
Economies * Southern Hemisphere(I see you, Australia!) * etc.

Please, anything but the 3rd World...

~~~
schoen
This classification seems to date to the Cold War rather than to early
European colonialism.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World)

(You could still view it as obsolete following the end of the Cold War... just
more recently obsolete.)

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rjzzleep
What's the value proposition for investors here? The data they gather from
associating the medication to patients?

~~~
Johnie
My guess is telemedicine insurance coverage arbitrage.

Insurance companies reimburse doctors for consulting and prescribing the
medication to the patients. For low risk/low effort consultation, like birth
control, the doctor can go through more patients via telemedicine than having
them come into the office with similar reimbursement rate as traditional
visit.

~~~
BadCookie
Rightly or wrongly, I always felt like getting a Pap smear was part of the
"deal" when it came to getting a birth control prescription. So it is
surprising to me that Nurx can/will (I assume) give you a prescription without
having a recent exam.

~~~
jakegarelick
Yep. States are moving toward an easier process of receiving birth control.

Related: [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/health/states-lead-
effort-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/health/states-lead-effort-to-
let-pharmacists-prescribe-birth-control.html)

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BillAtHRST
So will my pharmacist, and my insurance company

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yarou
The proliferation of female contraceptives is something we can all get behind
(no pun intended).

Joking aside, I think this paves the way for legitimate, regulated drug
delivery; which itself may create a more favorable environment for the
legalization of recreational drugs.

