Discount cards

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ZakMeister

ZakMeister

RPh
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What are some reliable discount websites that we can lead patients to get discounts on expensive meds? Do they have it in the mft websites mostly?
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My company banned us from using Family Wize. I asked the techs if that discount card took off the most and not surprisingly they said "yes".
 
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This really shouldn't be your concern as a technician. But yes, for expensive (re: brand name) medications, their best bet is going to be the coupons that are available on the manufacturers website.
 
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Why do pharmacies accept discount cards in the first place? I don't understand how a company can interject and say "you, dear consumer, may pay a much lower price for this medication. Mr. Pharmacist, please pay us for this service."
 
PharmyOfNone said:
Why do pharmacies accept discount cards in the first place? I don't understand how a company can interject and say "you, dear consumer, may pay a much lower price for this medication. Mr. Pharmacist, please pay us for this service."
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I think the whole idea of discount cards is stupid. Basically the people distributing the discount card charge the pharmacy a processing fee while at the same time lowering the price of the drug and the profit margin. They say the card is worth using because the customer is more likely to continue filling the Rx, but if this is so true when why wouldn't the pharmacy just lower the price to begin with and skip the card and the processing fee? Makes no sense.

But hey, CVS doesn't care so why should I?
 
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MFR discount cards are great, since you actually get reimbursed for them. The other ones really aren't so great for the pharmacy other than "Well, you're gaining a customer by using this card!" Familywize used to be stupidly cheap (below cost) a lot, but they're not much lower than cash now.
 
on the tangent of regular discount cards, if you take them you might as well sign up to get a commission from each one. I use this website and make $1 off each claim I process on most eligible claims (non-otc) items. The price is the same as the card we already used mostly anyway so I'm getting $1 every time we fill a phentermine, vitamin d, etc plus we see lots of uninsured people from urgent care that it's easy to use for.

http://www.yourrxhelp.biz/help1023/en/index.html
 
So your job loses a ton of money from these scripts while you profit and your company is ok with this?
 
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BenJammin said:
How would their employer know?
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They notice all of a sudden there's no pure cash customer and somehow they're using all the same discount cards and when they check the cameras at drop off to see if a patient ever handed one in or not...
 
most of these people already used discount cards anyway. I agree if I ran an independent I wouldn't accept discount cards period, but for a chain it doesn't make a significant difference anyway. The profit off of a discounted rx is not much different if not more than that on an insured rx. It may be $9 for lisinopril instead of $12 but we are by far making more profit than a $4 rx at walmart
 
Didn't we discuss this before in another thread and someone mentioned that their chain had a policy against this? It's late, but I seem to remember something like this....

At any rate, it would definitely seem to be a conflict of interest...
 
Does anyone else have people always coming in the the stupid GoodRx coupon on their phone? Its annoying and half the time the price is not the same and the people cannot fathom that the GoodRx website isn't accurate.
 
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mgarph said:
on the tangent of regular discount cards, if you take them you might as well sign up to get a commission from each one. I use this website and make $1 off each claim I process on most eligible claims (non-otc) items. The price is the same as the card we already used mostly anyway so I'm getting $1 every time we fill a phentermine, vitamin d, etc plus we see lots of uninsured people from urgent care that it's easy to use for.

http://www.yourrxhelp.biz/help1023/en/index.html
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Pretty sure this is unethical and grey at best. Our pharmacy goes as far as to not give shopping credits/bonus points to Medicare/Medicaid patients due to anti-kickback.

I mean at the end of the day, go on and laugh yourself to the bank but I just wanted to make sure you already knew.
 
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Do using these cards or manufacturer cards affect profit margins? or is it similar to a patient with insurance anyway?
 
greenswall said:
Do using these cards or manufacturer cards affect profit margins? or is it similar to a patient with insurance anyway?
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Discount cards hurt profits more than insurance. Manufacturer discount cards help profits.
 
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SClENCE said:
I think the whole idea of discount cards is stupid. Basically the people distributing the discount card charge the pharmacy a processing fee while at the same time lowering the price of the drug and the profit margin. They say the card is worth using because the customer is more likely to continue filling the Rx, but if this is so true when why wouldn't the pharmacy just lower the price to begin with and skip the card and the processing fee? Makes no sense.

But hey, CVS doesn't care so why should I?
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Bingo!
 
SouthernRetailRPH said:
Does anyone else have people always coming in the the stupid GoodRx coupon on their phone? Its annoying and half the time the price is not the same and the people cannot fathom that the GoodRx website isn't accurate.
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Yes!!! GoodRx are the worst! The price is never the same! I once had a guy demand we call GoodRx and get it straightened out and I said we do not call on discount cards, because it is not insurance. For a little bit, our store banned all GoodRx discount cards because supposedly we had gotten a charge back but Walgreens said we couldn't not accept them when a patient presents them.

I only apply discount cards when I feel a person genuinely needs a decrease in price. Elderly patient where part D doesn't cover: usually Zofran, Benzonatate, Robaxin, etc.

A really simple discount card for WAGS systsem is Plan ID: RXCUT, ID: CARD, Group: CARD and it is pretty good.
 
rxboy1996 said:
Yes!!! GoodRx are the worst! The price is never the same! I once had a guy demand we call GoodRx and get it straightened out and I said we do not call on discount cards, because it is not insurance. For a little bit, our store banned all GoodRx discount cards because supposedly we had gotten a charge back but Walgreens said we couldn't not accept them when a patient presents them.

I only apply discount cards when I feel a person genuinely needs a decrease in price. Elderly patient where part D doesn't cover: usually Zofran, Benzonatate, Robaxin, etc.

A really simple discount card for WAGS systsem is Plan ID: RXCUT, ID: CARD, Group: CARD and it is pretty good.
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You can usually get Zofran covered if you get the patient's diagnosis from the MD and call the Medicare plan. It's not a real PA, just a part B vs D determination.
 
MountainPharmD said:
Bingo!
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If you lower your cash prices you might be tinkering with how much you get paid for the same drug from other payers. Pbm A is paying you $9 for that drug for another patient, PBM B (cash discount card) gets the other patients cost to $7. Lowering your cash price to 7 or or lower now means pbm A is going to only pay you $7 (or lower) when that other patient fills the same med. it's all a game of sucking money from the other guy.
 
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PharFromNormal said:
If you lower your cash prices you might be tinkering with how much you get paid for the same drug from other payers. Pbm A is paying you $9 for that drug for another patient, PBM B (cash discount card) gets the other patients cost to $7. Lowering your cash price to 7 or or lower now means pbm A is going to only pay you $7 (or lower) when that other patient fills the same med. it's all a game of sucking money from the other guy.
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That's why you set up a store loyalty or discount plan. The computer system I have allows me to create an unlimited number of pricing schedules and discounts. The store discount gets billed through a dummy BIN number so it doesn't affect usual and customary amounts that get transmitted to the PBMs. Customers have to sign up for the discount plan on an annual basis and I charge $1 per year to use the plan. It works no different than a normal discount card except I don't have to pay anyone a fee to use it.
 
MountainPharmD said:
That's why you set up a store loyalty or discount plan. The computer system I have allows me to create an unlimited number of pricing schedules and discounts. The store discount gets billed through a dummy BIN number so it doesn't affect usual and customary amounts that get transmitted to the PBMs. Customers have to sign up for the discount plan on an annual basis and I charge $1 per year to use the plan. It works no different than a normal discount card except I don't have to pay anyone a fee to use it.
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That system sounds genius as far as maxing out profit from pbms, what kind of software is it?
 
MountainPharmD said:
That's why you set up a store loyalty or discount plan. The computer system I have allows me to create an unlimited number of pricing schedules and discounts. The store discount gets billed through a dummy BIN number so it doesn't affect usual and customary amounts that get transmitted to the PBMs. Customers have to sign up for the discount plan on an annual basis and I charge $1 per year to use the plan. It works no different than a normal discount card except I don't have to pay anyone a fee to use it.
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CVS had something like this. They ended up sued for it and stopped the program
 
ecrofom said:
CVS had something like this. They ended up sued for it and stopped the program
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I don't think they were sued. I think it was made illegal in one state so they completely changed it.
 
BigBoss said:
Theres no need to call though. Usually there's a rx denial code that you can select from your third party options to resolve this and get zofran covered under part B or D. The rejection will tell you how to resolve it.


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I haven't seen that.
 
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BigBoss said:
Interesting. It may depend on the system used by your retail chain.


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Actually, this is possible to do this for Med B covered drugs, but Med D is administered by a lot of different companies and it doesn't work that was for any I've encountered. It may be different in your region.
 
MountainPharmD said:
That's why you set up a store loyalty or discount plan. The computer system I have allows me to create an unlimited number of pricing schedules and discounts. The store discount gets billed through a dummy BIN number so it doesn't affect usual and customary amounts that get transmitted to the PBMs. Customers have to sign up for the discount plan on an annual basis and I charge $1 per year to use the plan. It works no different than a normal discount card except I don't have to pay anyone a fee to use it.
Click to expand...

Oh absolutely but this is much different than lowering your true u & c which is why people don't just "lower their cash prices."
 
ZakMeister said:
What are some reliable discount websites that we can lead patients to get discounts on expensive meds? Do they have it in the mft websites mostly?
Click to expand...

Discount cards are fraudulent, and destroy our profession.
 
Our DM sent out a preferred discount card that is our "State" drug card - IE Louisiana Drug Card. I wonder who this is benefitting? Why not just sell the drugs cheaper in the first place instead of paying another processing company a commission and discounting the price
 
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