Walgreens 4 dollar generic program

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From a business side I get the point...charge pt's 20 bucks to be a part of an exclusive club at walgreens that will give pt's lower prices on drugs, many of them at 4 dollars a month and get them to come back.

Does anyone have a lot of trouble "selling" this program now that Wags is pushing the PSC thing hard? I feel like if we really want to help patients, why not lower some of the prices? Most absurd is charging 300 bucks for 30 generic lamisil and charging 4 dollars for it with the stupid card. Just seems ridiculous to me...

Originally Posted by Caverject

From a business side I get the point...charge pt's 20 bucks to be a part of an exclusive club at walgreens that will give pt's lower prices on drugs, many of them at 4 dollars a month and get them to come back.

Does anyone have a lot of trouble "selling" this program now that Wags is pushing the PSC thing hard? I feel like if we really want to help patients, why not lower some of the prices? Most absurd is charging 300 bucks for 30 generic lamisil and charging 4 dollars for it with the stupid card. Just seems ridiculous to me...

I dont see how it is ridiculous. By offering the program, Walgreens is effectively lowering the prices in exchange for a small commitment from the pt to keep coming back. It makes perfect sense and benefits all parties involved.

I sold a million of these over the summer to under or uninsured pts and pet owners. If I saw a pt's cash outlay was over $100, I would just automatically print out the report for them...only takes a second, saves the pt money, increases likelihood of compliance and strengthens the business.

You have to watch out for items that are single-use and brand name, ie lotions, creams, sprays, etc. Sometimes, the club price will be higher than the cash price.

Why does retail pharmacy have to be the bad guy in all this. Why does retail pharmacy have to lower its prices and profit margin to help out the poor and under insured?

What about the drug companies? Why doesn't anyone hold them accountable? How can they get away with charging $10.00 a pill yet retail pharmacy is the bad guy?

Does not make any sense to me....

Originally Posted by NormalSaline

I dont see how it is ridiculous. By offering the program, Walgreens is effectively lowering the prices in exchange for a small commitment from the pt to keep coming back. It makes perfect sense and benefits all parties involved.

I sold a million of these over the summer to under or uninsured pts and pet owners. If I saw a pt's cash outlay was over $100, I would just automatically print out the report for them...only takes a second, saves the pt money, increases likelihood of compliance and strengthens the business.

you must be a big kool-aid drinker...

I don't believe anyone should have to pay to join a program to get more reasonable pricing. You sold a million PSC cards because you earned an extra 3 bucks for each one sold, not for the warm fuzzies of saving people money.

It really depends on what meds you take. Wags offers a pretty big discount on some of the more expensive generics. Someone transferred in a script and I ran it through with the Florida resident discount and I couldn't touch their PSC price.

Then on something like Simvastatin, which isn't on their PSC list, I can sell for $15 90 days at Kmart without a card.

People just need to price the meds with PSC and see if it can make a difference. When I worked at Wags, I had lots of people get prices then leave because they didn't want to pay $20. But, those people's meds were on the Walmart $4 list. For meds not on that list, PSC can save them serious $$.

Originally Posted by Caverject

From a business side I get the point...charge pt's 20 bucks to be a part of an exclusive club at walgreens that will give pt's lower prices on drugs, many of them at 4 dollars a month and get them to come back.

Does anyone have a lot of trouble "selling" this program now that Wags is pushing the PSC thing hard? I feel like if we really want to help patients, why not lower some of the prices? Most absurd is charging 300 bucks for 30 generic lamisil and charging 4 dollars for it with the stupid card. Just seems ridiculous to me...

Dude, I sold like 30 of those over a month without even trying... Best way to do it is to identify the patients who will benefit most, and contact them.

BTW- even some brand names are covered under the walgreens card.

But yeh, I agree that the prices of medications these days are so ridiculous.

Yep....Viagra/Cialis/Levitra are also covered on that...

But I agree...I don't have trouble selling these, but our store is actually losing money from this cuz most people who enroll rarely get medications, only once or twice from the dentist or for an infection and such. most people who are on maintenance at our store either is medicaid or medicare, so they're covered...

Originally Posted by cylimcp2008

Yep....Viagra/Cialis/Levitra are also covered on that...

but does it cover birth control?

I talked to the pharmacist at a Safeway with a big sign that says "will match any competitor's prices." They said profits are down (from people initially transferring prescriptions), which upper management is crapping upon them for and they are unable to do so with the new matching program. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Originally Posted by Caverject

you must be a big kool-aid drinker...

I don't believe anyone should have to pay to join a program to get more reasonable pricing. You sold a million PSC cards because you earned an extra 3 bucks for each one sold, not for the warm fuzzies of saving people money.

I was a huge fan of them even before the $3 PM. I sold one to a lady who was picking up 30 Fluconazole 150s for her dog, she was all set to pay $450, PSC saved her about $300...that felt good, even when she forgot to thank me

Originally Posted by JerryPharmD

I talked to the pharmacist at a Safeway with a big sign that says "will match any competitor's prices." They said profits are down (from people initially transferring prescriptions), which upper management is crapping upon them for and they are unable to do so with the new matching program. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Safeway is run by idiots.....If they make it 10 more years I will be surprised....

Originally Posted by njac

but does it cover birth control?

it sure does...

Originally Posted by Caverject

you must be a big kool-aid drinker...

I don't believe anyone should have to pay to join a program to get more reasonable pricing. You sold a million PSC cards because you earned an extra 3 bucks for each one sold, not for the warm fuzzies of saving people money.

You have to charge the money for the savings. It has to differ from the companies usual and customary charge. you cant offer a discount to some and not to others. especially ins companies. Its all BS to me. Mountain has a point. Why should we as pharmacies have to lower our prices?? it seems we are the scapegoat as always!

Originally Posted by MountainPharmD

Why does retail pharmacy have to be the bad guy in all this. Why does retail pharmacy have to lower its prices and profit margin to help out the poor and under insured?

What about the drug companies? Why doesn't anyone hold them accountable? How can they get away with charging $10.00 a pill yet retail pharmacy is the bad guy?

Does not make any sense to me....

agreed 100%

I worked at Walgreens this summer, and I asked my pharmacy manager how Walgreens could offer this program. I asked her if they were losing money on it. She told me that this program is theoretically supposed to save them money. She told me that every time they fill a prescription it costs Walgreens X amount of dollars in processing fees. (I forgot the price) If people subscribe to the program, then they can get a three month supply of generics instead of a monthly supply. It costs Walgreens much less in processing fees to process 90 tablets once, then it does 30 tablets three times. So the main push of the program is for the 90 day generics, which saves money for Walgreens while helping people without insurance at the same time. Walgreens does offer a discount on other drugs, but I don't think that saves them money.

Originally Posted by FruitFly

It covers all sorts of meds! Always check what's covered if the person has no insurance or minimal insurance. It could not be used for patients on medicare, medicaid, or Tricare government sponsored health insurances.

Thank you Mr. Walgreens....does that mean that they overcharge on the majority of their prescriptions to their cash paying customers?

I heard from a pharmacist I work with that each time you submit a claim to the insurance, whether it works or not, it costs around $0.25 billed as a processing fee. It adds up pretty fast.


Also remember this Wags savings club comes with a 30 day refund...so if you need to, just buy the thing to get the good prices then CANCEL//REFUND.

I hate the whole savings club idea. I used to shop at a campus kroger's and never knew about the kroger's card. As a result I was shopping there nearly every week not realizing all the savings I would have received.

Eventually I got hired at Giant Eagle and continued to shop without a "savings" card because of my ignorance. Finally, one day I went up to buy a drink that was advertised as $1.49 and brought $2 with me. At the cash register the cashier told me I did not have enough money because it is $1.49 only with a GE card, and otherwise $2.19 without one. I asked if I could just use hers and she freaked out like it was the ultimate taboo. Ignorance is not always bliss!

I think it's kinda pointless to argue about prices. Its like saying Morton's Steakhouse is a ripoff since they charge $30 for a piece of steak, when I can get it for $5 at Krogers. People are paying for the convenience and the Walgreens familiarity. Also, not all the drugs are overpriced. There's going to be some that are cheaper and some that are more expensive then Walgreen's competitors.

As far as having to "pay for a discount", it works for some and it doesn't for others. The PSC is mainly geared for the uninsured. It saves them money. I don't have a problem with it. I have paid for a membership at Sam's Club for their discounted prices. I also just paid $1200 for my mandatory student insurance, which entitles me to prescription discounts as well.

Originally Posted by Markovnikov

I heard from a pharmacist I work with that each time you submit a claim to the insurance, whether it works or not, it costs around $0.25 billed as a processing fee. It adds up pretty fast.


Also remember this Wags savings club comes with a 30 day refund...so if you need to, just buy the thing to get the good prices then CANCEL//REFUND.

I hate the whole savings club idea. I used to shop at a campus kroger's and never knew about the kroger's card. As a result I was shopping there nearly every week not realizing all the savings I would have received.

Eventually I got hired at Giant Eagle and continued to shop without a "savings" card because of my ignorance. Finally, one day I went up to buy a drink that was advertised as $1.49 and brought $2 with me. At the cash register the cashier told me I did not have enough money because it is $1.49 only with a GE card, and otherwise $2.19 without one. I asked if I could just use hers and she freaked out like it was the ultimate taboo. Ignorance is not always bliss!

I think its more like $0.06 per claim.

Originally Posted by MountainPharmD

Safeway is run by idiots.....If they make it 10 more years I will be surprised....

As a former safeway pharmacist...I 100% agree with this statement. The promotions they run just don't make any sense because they are always losing money on it.

And don't get me started on flu shots...

Originally Posted by KARM12

As a former safeway pharmacist...I 100% agree with this statement. The promotions they run just don't make any sense because they are always losing money on it.

And don't get me started on flu shots...

I swear if I have one more little old lady come up to me and say the paper says I can get a flu shot anytime I want with no waiting or appointment I will lose it. We are staffed so poorly I do not have enough time to get prescriptions filled and out the door safely and these idioits want us to do flu shots too?

Do they have the list online of what all is on their club thing? It'd be interesting to see.

Originally Posted by GatorRxGirl

Do they have the list online of what all is on their club thing? It'd be interesting to see.

There's not a list online, but there is a pricing tool.
Not sure if that link works, but just go to walgreens.com and there will be an ad for it somewhere on the home page.
If you really want a list just go to a Walgreens and they'll have the entire formulary.

Originally Posted by Caverject

you must be a big kool-aid drinker...

I don't believe anyone should have to pay to join a program to get more reasonable pricing. You sold a million PSC cards because you earned an extra 3 bucks for each one sold, not for the warm fuzzies of saving people money.

Yeah! Down with insurance companies being able to negotiate bulk pricing based on volume and referral! Friggin legal being humdingers!

Originally Posted by MountainPharmD

Why does retail pharmacy have to be the bad guy in all this. Why does retail pharmacy have to lower its prices and profit margin to help out the poor and under insured?

What about the drug companies? Why doesn't anyone hold them accountable? How can they get away with charging $10.00 a pill yet retail pharmacy is the bad guy?

Does not make any sense to me....

Well put, my friend.

You honestly cannot look at it as $10 per pill. You have to take in account the amount of money they poured into 90% of similar drugs that failed to make it to the market. That money has to be recovered somehow to fuel future research, its just the way it is. And even more, pharmaceutical companies are our lifeline so I would be careful in biting the hand that feeds. Have you ever thought about what would happen if they stopped all research? Or heaven forbid ALL production? Without these pharmaceutical companies where would we get our medicine? The government? Jeez Can you imagine the profit margins then? Yeah, thats what I thought.

Originally Posted by Rx 4 MiSeRy

You honestly cannot look at it as $10 per pill. You have to take in account the amount of money they poured into 90% of similar drugs that failed to make it to the market. That money has to be recovered somehow to fuel future research, its just the way it is. And even more, pharmaceutical companies are our lifeline so I would be careful in biting the hand that feeds. Have you ever thought about what would happen if they stopped all research? Or heaven forbid ALL production? Without these pharmaceutical companies where would we get our medicine? The government? Jeez Can you imagine the profit margins then? Yeah, thats what I thought.

The American pharmaceutical industry used to be the most amazing industry in the country. Then they caught the Wall Street Fever. Now they are as slimy as any other industry. They are not to be trusted. They steal so much from us they make Jesse James look like a philanthropist. It's late and I have to in at 8AM tomorrow or I would explain in long a laborious detail why they are the scheming low life scum sucking pigs everyone thinks they are.