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SWFL_F1sh0n
Posts: 17,248 Officer
Some Truth behind rising Health Care Prices
SWFL_F1sh0n
Posts: 17,248 Officer
STUDY: CVS, Rite Aid, And Other Chain Pharmacies Sell Generic Drugs At Up To 18 Times Their Cost
According to a new Consumer Reports investigative study published Thursday, there is rampant variation in the price of generic drugs as large U.S. pharmacy chains — including CVS, Rite Aid, and Target — mark up the prices of generic drug versions for common medications by as much as 18 times what wholesale chains like Costco charge. That price variance ends up costing Americans, who spend an average of $758 out-of-pocket on drugs every year, hundreds of dollars in unnecessary spending each month.
Consumer Reports compiled the data by contacting hundred of pharmacies throughout the country and asking what their drug prices were for generic versions of Lipitor, Plavix, Actos, and other common medications. The results were striking, with pharmacy representatives claiming that the higher prices were necessary for covering overhead, and considering that selling medication constitutes most of their revenue and profit margins:
Costco was the least expensive overall, and you don’t need to be a member to use its pharmacy. A few independent pharmacies came in even cheaper, though their prices varied widely, as did grocery-store pharmacies. The online retailers Healthwarehouse.com and FamilyMeds.com also had very low prices. On the other end of the spectrum, CVS, Rite Aid, and Target had the highest retail prices. [...]
A representative of CVS told us that its retail drug prices reflect other services offered by the chain, including drive-through windows, automated prescription refill systems, free outreach programs to help make sure patients are taking their prescriptions correctly, and 24-hour pharmacies. Costco pharmacies, the cheapest overall, are open only from 10 a.m. to 7 or 8:30 p.m. and are typically closed on Sundays.
“Big-box stores such as Costco and Walmart use the pharmacy as a traffic builder for their stores, whereas traditional chain stores, such as CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens, make the majority of their revenue and profits from the pharmacy,” says Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, Ph.D., Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacy economics at the University of Minnesota.
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Talk about Capitalism at it's finest. First you are locked in to one particular Pharmacy by your Insurance, and then those Pharmacies gouge you even on Generics!
According to a new Consumer Reports investigative study published Thursday, there is rampant variation in the price of generic drugs as large U.S. pharmacy chains — including CVS, Rite Aid, and Target — mark up the prices of generic drug versions for common medications by as much as 18 times what wholesale chains like Costco charge. That price variance ends up costing Americans, who spend an average of $758 out-of-pocket on drugs every year, hundreds of dollars in unnecessary spending each month.
Consumer Reports compiled the data by contacting hundred of pharmacies throughout the country and asking what their drug prices were for generic versions of Lipitor, Plavix, Actos, and other common medications. The results were striking, with pharmacy representatives claiming that the higher prices were necessary for covering overhead, and considering that selling medication constitutes most of their revenue and profit margins:
Costco was the least expensive overall, and you don’t need to be a member to use its pharmacy. A few independent pharmacies came in even cheaper, though their prices varied widely, as did grocery-store pharmacies. The online retailers Healthwarehouse.com and FamilyMeds.com also had very low prices. On the other end of the spectrum, CVS, Rite Aid, and Target had the highest retail prices. [...]
A representative of CVS told us that its retail drug prices reflect other services offered by the chain, including drive-through windows, automated prescription refill systems, free outreach programs to help make sure patients are taking their prescriptions correctly, and 24-hour pharmacies. Costco pharmacies, the cheapest overall, are open only from 10 a.m. to 7 or 8:30 p.m. and are typically closed on Sundays.
“Big-box stores such as Costco and Walmart use the pharmacy as a traffic builder for their stores, whereas traditional chain stores, such as CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens, make the majority of their revenue and profits from the pharmacy,” says Stephen W. Schondelmeyer, Ph.D., Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacy economics at the University of Minnesota.
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Talk about Capitalism at it's finest. First you are locked in to one particular Pharmacy by your Insurance, and then those Pharmacies gouge you even on Generics!
Replies
"Today is MINE"
As usual you miss the point. Stop blaming the ACA for your rising costs and blame the people who are actually responsible. Greedy corporations.
Oh those evil corporations... :willynilly
"Today is MINE"
Now that you understand the truth, I am sure you will not post anything further about the ACA.
I don't know what kind of insurance you are talking about but a co-pay is exactly that... you can choose where you get your prescriptions and then your insurance pays... I have never seen an insurance plan that "locked" someone into a particular pharmacy. Fail, as usual. Evil corporations, evil capitalism, evil anything except don't look behind the curtain at the democrats or the ACA... NOOOO!!!!!! Only a liberal could take a cost comparison study funded by a lawsuit, published by consumer reports and turn it into a thinkprogress.bullchit partisan denial of what is driving the cost of insurance premiums - which is OBAMACARE!!!!
Fail, Fail, Fail... and more FAIL!!!
Did I mention FAIL?
Coming from someone like you this can only be taken as hilarious.
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2013/3/28/fbi_raids_universal_.html
Former Mini Mart Magnate
I am just here for my amusement.
I am locked into using cvs/Caremark. If I choose not to use them it is covered out of network. Basically everyone I know has that type of plan. It seems like you lack of knowledge continues to indicate you're the problem.
The only way that makes any sense is if you work for CVS. I don't know anyone who can't choose where to get their prescriptions filled.
The problem is ignorance, which you exemplify and propagate. Do us all a favor and take all your pills at once.
Now that's not nice !!! little man may FOLLOW your direction and seriously injure himself in which case we will have to foot the bill for his cremation.
If I want more than a one time supply of 30, then I have to use Caremark/CVS. One time per year that's it. Considering my wife worked in a pharmacy and my father in law is a pharmacist, hate to say it but you are the one that is ignorant.
"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr
They need to go after them next for making such a profit and contributing to the nations healthcare issues.
Freaking greedy *** doughnut companies trying to make profit like that off us hardworking people.
Hilarity. Another conservative proving himself to have less brains than a pile of dog turds.
You get to choose whether or not you want to eat a doughnut. You don't get to choose whether or not to have a heart attack. You don't get to decide if you want cancer or not. You don't get to pick which infectious disease you want from a menu. Moreover, you don't always get to pick what hospital you are taken to. You don't get to decide who your ER physician will be. You don't get to shop around for interventional radiologists.
Free market rules cannot be applied to health care because there isn't always competition and most of the time the consumer does not have a choice.
Are you able to understand this relatively basic concept, or is the one neuron you seem to have left behind that thick skull simply incapable of processing information at such a "high" level?
You conservatives should really just stop talking about anything health care or science related. Despite all the hundreds of complaints about Obamacare, not one of you silly nutcases has been able to make a good argument against it. You guys just sound like Todd Akin with his "legitimate **** can't get a woman pregnant."
Talk about hillarity.... Another koolaid drinker proving he cant think for himself while at the same time rebutting his own post.
You get to choose where you shop for generic drugs.
Yeah you get to choose. What's your point? Are you choosing to taking those drugs? Are you waking up and deciding, "Oh I think I'll start taking some beta blockers today."
And yeah, you do get to pick your pharmacy. I'm not aware of anyone that's trying to change that. The initial quote,
"They need to go after them next for making such a profit and contributing to the nations healthcare issues.
Freaking greedy *** doughnut companies trying to make profit like that off us hardworking people."
infers that someone is "going after" a company. I assume that's talking about insurance companies, because nobody's "going after" local pharmacies. Nobody is trying to reign in the profits of Walgreens, CVS, Sams Club or whatever. I guess I gave Ol Mucky the benefit of the doubt, because if he was talking about local pharmacies and the government "going after" them, he's even dumber than I first thought, and believe me that is impressive, because I already thought he was REALLY dumb.