GoodRx helps people afford drugs. But is it improving health care or profiting off a broken system?

It’s no secret that the U.S. health care system doesn’t work very well, nor that we, as a country, spend too much on prescription drugs. And yet, for years, these have been sorry, but intractable truths of American existence. The trajectory of things seems a foregone conclusion: more costly, more complicated.

These dynamics are what make the story of GoodRx, the Santa Monica-based drug discount company, such a fascinating case study. Just 11 years old, the company, which claims to have saved Americans more than $25 billion on prescription medications, currently enjoys a market value of $15.8 billion after going public last fall. It took in $550.7 million in revenue in 2020, 42% more than the previous (non-pandemic) year. Again, that’s billions of capital invested in—and millions of dollar made by—a business that helps people afford their prescription meds. That alone tells you how broken the system is.

But what’s really striking about GoodRx is that it has found a path to both handsomely profit off America’s profoundly dysfunctional drug marketplace, and in a meaningful way, to help consumers navigate it. Without a doubt, GoodRx has helped people afford medications—a good that goes beyond mere savings, by keeping them healthy, productive, and from having to seek out more expensive care. And, incredibly given the industry, they managed to develop a product and service that people love to use.

But GoodRx’s business model is as complicated as the system it is built around, and with a closer look, one does wonder if the company is more of a participant in the broken system—perpetuating some of its worst features—than a solution to it.

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