APhA promoting Blink discount program

[maria1oh]

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Members don't see this ad.

Im on the email list for APhA and got an email ad today from them promoting Blink Health. The reimbursement from this discount card is so low that not even cvs or rite aid accepts it. Kind of surprised they are promoting this.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I got my email this morning...


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[PA_dud3]

Wow, that's odd.

I have no clue why people insist on these convoluted savings companies. 99% of the time we could beat their price just on cash, but they still wanted to pay online for it instead of paying at the pharmacy. We would hardly make anything through it, if I remember correctly, and it just seems like an extra step for no benefit to the patient.

 

[FinallyOnTrack]

Wow, that's odd.

I have no clue why people insist on these convoluted savings companies. 99% of the time we could beat their price just on cash, but they still wanted to pay online for it instead of paying at the pharmacy. We would hardly make anything through it, if I remember correctly, and it just seems like an extra step for no benefit to the patient.

Correct me if I am wrong - You came from an independent and are now working at CVS?

CVS Cash Prices are outrageously over priced.. if you went around changing the cash price, you’ll end up getting in trouble because at that point in time, you lowered the Usual And Customary pricing for that drug - a set pricing that your company signed insurance contracts saying they would not charge them more money that your UnC pricing..

Independents do this all of the time because they see that the patient is paying $50.00 for something that costs $10.00 and the discount card is taking a claw back for $30.00 (thus the pharmacy is only making $10 on the front end).. so they could easily say their cash price is $45.00 and make $35 vs $10...

Most pharmacies offer their own discount card which allows them to bypass this UnC pricing...

If you don’t believe me about CVS being over priced - compare prices on random drugs against what GoodRx, PSCard, and Blink shows for each medication..


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[PA_dud3]

Correct me if I am wrong - You came from an independent and are now working at CVS?

CVS Cash Prices are outrageously over priced.. if you went around changing the cash price, you’ll end up getting in trouble because at that point in time, you lowered the Usual And Customary pricing for that drug - a set pricing that your company signed insurance contracts saying they would not charge them more money that your UnC pricing..

Independents do this all of the time because they see that the patient is paying $50.00 for something that costs $10.00 and the discount card is taking a claw back for $30.00 (thus the pharmacy is only making $10 on the front end).. so they could easily say their cash price is $45.00 and make $35 vs $10...

Most pharmacies offer their own discount card which allows them to bypass this UnC pricing...

If you don’t believe me about CVS being over priced - compare prices on random drugs against what GoodRx, PSCard, and Blink shows for each medication..


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Oh yeah I was referring to my time at the Indy. I haven't touched anything at CVS outside of training, haha.

 

[zelman]

APhA has fewer values than I thought.

 

[steveysmith54]

What do you expect when their presidents open pharmacy schools in most saturated areas of the country and claim shortages, vehemently mislead students about "emerging clinical roles" and use the word MTM like it's gold.

What made anyone think they care about the state of independents or anyone except themselves?

I don't even know what APhA stands for anymore. Annoying Pharmacist Associations or Assface Pharmacist Association?

 

[PharFromNormal]

The big disconnect I always see APhA having is not putting the business of pharmacists into their equation. In a world where reimbursement and profitability didn’t matter and everything was roses like they wished... many of the things they advocate for would probably be good. For instance if blink didn’t screw pharmacists with **** rates or “MTM” was reimbursed wayyyy more than we might be looking at things that are generally good for the patient. But those things aren’t true and APhA doesn’t know or more likely doesn’t care. Yet they keep pedaling it to the influencable youth and trying to force their way of getting what they want through legislation and regulations. This is turn hurts pharmacists as we now take on cost or do things to erode our already shrinking profitability and get even more mad when the next thing that comes along gets shoved down our throught. Bottom line to APhA ... take a business class. Nothing against innocent pharmacy students, but maybe academia and student pharmacists shouldn’t be the ones driving the agenda if they don’t have real skin in the game on the business of the profession.

 

[zelman]

What made anyone think they care about the state of independents or anyone except themselves?

This is what baffles me. I thought they were bought and paid for by CVS/Wags and used their influence to keep the RPh’s in line for them. Turns out they don’t care about anything but whoever is holding a checkbook at the moment.

 

[JamesL1585]

APhA will promote a business model meant (to keep them afloat but) to destroy your profession, before they will promote better working conditions, more pharmacy entrepreneurship, and opportunities to move you as pharmacist to a brighter future.

 

[BidingMyTime]

APhA has fewer values than I thought.

I have zero regrets about dropping my membership back in the late 90's. APHA cares nothing about the profesison.

As for their advertising Blink.....maybe since so many pharmacists can't get full-time hours these days, they thought pharmacists needed Blink to pay for their own prescriptions?