Older Adults Increasing Use of Online Pharmacies and Drug Discounts

James McSpadden, AARP Public Policy Institute

Published June 12, 2025

Older white man with glasses sits at kitchen table looking at his laptop with a credit card in one hand and a prescription bottle sitting next to him.

Summary
How and where older adults fill their prescriptions is changing. Although most older adults continue to fill their prescriptions at a brick-and-mortar retail pharmacy using health insurance, a small but growing number have moved online for alternatives due to several motivating factors, including cost savings and convenience. In particular, older adults have been turning to two digital pharmacy services that use online platforms and market discounts on prescribed drugs—online pharmacies and online prescription drug discount programs. This report highlights insights from a recently released AARP survey that explored the current use of online pharmacies and prescription drug discount programs among older adults, examines the barriers that older adults face when using these services, and raises policy considerations as older adults continue or increase their use of online pharmacies and prescription drug discount programs. Read the full report.

Key Takeaways

AARP survey data show that older adults are embracing certain digital pharmacy services, namely online pharmacies and online prescription drug discount programs, when filling prescriptions.
Older adults report that online pharmacies provide a convenient way to fill prescriptions and often learn about them from their primary care provider.
Meanwhile, older adults report using online prescription drug discount programs to save money or fill a prescription that is not covered by their insurance, and most often learn about these programs from a pharmacist.
The extent to which barriers (e.g., digital health literacy, fraud, counterfeit products) affect how and whether older adults use online pharmacies and online prescription drug discount programs remains unclear.
Use of both digital services is likely to grow, with more than half of older adults likely to use one or both services in the future.

Some text elements of this page were created with AI assistance and have been reviewed and edited for accuracy by staff.

Suggested Citation:
McSpadden, James. Going Digital: Growing Use of Online Pharmacies and Prescription Drug Discount Programs Among Older Adults. Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute, June 12, 2025. https://doi.org/10.26419/ppi.00365.001

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Full Report