STUDY: CVS, Rite Aid, And Other Chain Pharmacies Mark Up Generic Drugs By Up To 18 Times Their Cost

[ProSense]

STUDY: CVS, Rite Aid, And Other Chain Pharmacies Mark Up Generic Drugs By Up To 18 Times Their Cost

By Sy Mukherjee

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 — marking 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:

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The study’s full findings are illustrated in this chart:



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This isn’t the first time generic drug makers have been in the news this week. On Monday, the Supreme Court took up Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Actavis — which one expert dubbed “the health care reform case of 2013″ — a case centering on the legality and antitrust implications of so-called “pay for delay” arrangements in which brand name drug makers pay off their generic drug counterparts to delay a drug’s generic version from entry into the market. If the FTC winds up winning that case, it could save Americans and the government billions of dollars on drug costs every year. But as this new report demonstrates, they could save much more if pharmacies stopped jacking up their rates to startling degrees.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/29/1798061/chain-pharmacies-generic-drugs/

[olddots]

1. Once again CVS is the worst of the worst

This is one of worst parts of what our health care has become .

[talkingmime]

3. Weird. CVS has better prices (around here at least) than RiteAid or any of the

major supermarket chains. And I'm just talking about stuff like aceteminophen, ibuprofen, cortizone cream, vitamins, etc. Their store brand is "generic" so to speak and about as good a price as you can get.

For prescriptions, I always get generics, but I can't judge the price there since my insurance sets what I pay and it's never very much. The most expensive thing I have to get is a daily injection pen and that comes mail order (also CVS). There hasn't been any turnover that I've noticed in the pharmacy department in the past ten years. They must be doing something right.

My biggest complaint is that the mail-order (maintenance) drugs are a separate entity (still CVS) and my local pharmacist has no way to cross-reference what I fill at the counter and what comes in the mail. That's worrysome to me, but he flat out said he was really pissed about it. He has no way to check drug compatibility between the two means by which I get my drugs other than for me to bring him the spreadsheet I keep on all of my medications.

[Luminous Animal]

2. You can order from CostCo online and you don't have to be a member.

[davidthegnome]

4. Despicable, but not surprising

A couple years ago, I spent some time in a small town in MA. I went to their Big Y Pharmacy for a refill of sertraline. At my pharmacy at home, it would cost me about 18 dollars, through some kind of discount program for the uninsured. At that particular Big Y, it was going to cost over 200. I winced and asked the pharmacist if there was any way to reduce the price - he asked me what I normally paid, I told him, he made a phone call and ended up charging me 18.

I still can't figure how the price so quickly dropped by so much, unless it was through some kind of "we'll match their price" promotion.

[David Zephyr]

5. K&R. Please pass this along to all you know. Thanks, ProSense.

This should also help Cosco. Thanks for posting this. It's outrageous and cruel and should be illegal.

[ProSense]

8. Yup. Easy chart to pass along. n/t

[RobinA]

6. I Wish

they would do a study comparing the efficacy of generics to branded drugs. Now there's a scandal.

[freshwest]

7. Another reason to love COSTCO. And WalMart is down there with the price gougers, too.

[closeupready]

9. Aha! In New York, pharmacies may fill as generic any scrips

which aren't checked in the empty box next to "fill as written". It's a state law.

Putting two and two together, this speaks to the power of lobbying elected officials.

[dmr]

10. K&R

[jsr]

11. Somebody ought to do a website like GasBuddy to keep track of drug prices.