Archived California versus CVS versus Target

[pellinore]

OK.....there seems to be a court case that says that California people are suing CVS for improperly charging customers for generic medicines.

Haven't been able to learn very much about this case. However if this is true.....I wonder what will become of the Target sale of their pharmacies to CVS? Target might be finding themselves in some really deep trouble if this is true.

Wonder if this is enough of an issue to stop the sale of Target to CVS?

 

[commiecorvus]

This was what I could find, hate pay walls.
http://www.law360.com/articles/685436/cvs-charges-insured-buyers-more-for-generics-suit-claims

 

[PassinTime]

Target is going to unload the pharmacy anyway, it's just not profitable for them.

 

[commiecorvus]

Target is going to unload the pharmacy anyway, it's just not profitable for them.

That's the weird part, it really doesn't have to be.
Costco uses their pharmacy as a loss leader and does just fine.
Target charges less for meds than CVS and it's because they make more money off the things people buy when the come in to pick up their meds, CVS doesn't.
So is CVS going to raise the prices of the meds to make the places profitable since they can't count on the sales of other products?

 

[redeye58]

Wonder if this is enough of an issue to stop the sale of Target to CVS?

We could only hope.

 

[PassinTime]

That's the weird part, it really doesn't have to be.
Costco uses their pharmacy as a loss leader and does just fine.
Target charges less for meds than CVS and it's because they make more money off the things people buy when the come in to pick up their meds, CVS doesn't.
So is CVS going to raise the prices of the meds to make the places profitable since they can't count on the sales of other products?

It would seem that primarily the $4 and $10 prescriptions are at risk as CVS doesn't offer those options. Majority of people have insurance (or should due to ACA requirements) where the insurance company and pharmacy have agreed prices. Therefore, I wonder if prices will change much???

 

[RedRXTech]

It would seem that primarily the $4 and $10 prescriptions are at risk as CVS doesn't offer those options. Majority of people have insurance (or should due to ACA requirements) where the insurance company and pharmacy have agreed prices. Therefore, I wonder if prices will change much???

Depends on their insurance, if their insurance uses co-pays with set costs per med per tier, and no deductible then they won't see any changes as long as CVS is in network/ preferred for them and the med costs more than their copay. However if CVS is out of network / not a preferred pharmacy while target was, they have a deductible, the med w/ target was less than copay and now => copay, they have co-insurance (where they pay a % of the cost) then they will see a change.

 

[redstripes]

While this article deals with insurance copays, the cash price for prescription items may very well change. As is, many patients use Target for $4 generics/$10 90 day supplies because Target is cheaper as a cash price than their own in-network pharmacy. These patients will be on the short end of the stick when they come in to find out their former $4/$10 item is now priced differently for full retail.

Retail price on drugs varies from retail pharmacy to retail pharmacy. A couple years back Levothyroxine left the $4 generic list and jumped up rather dramatically in price. Meanwhile, other retail pharmacies continued to price it for whatever their similar program was, causing many patients to transfer that prescription, and possibly others, out.

With the buyout to CVS, it would stand to reason that Target would have access to CVS's distribution of prescription drugs. Theoretically with CVS's total higher buying power this should leave them more affordable, and not priced at local drug distribution costs, which are much higher. If they choose to, most drugs could/should be able to cost less than they do now with Target, but given that they are known for having high retail prices, this seems unlikely.