CVS buys Target pharmacies!

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pretty annoying all these speculations is coming from people in the field. I would gladly rebuttal whatcu have got to say

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I keep waiting for "CVS declares bankruptcy" headlines but I guess we are a long ways off from that. Poor Target staff...
exactly, poor target. CVS will be alright
 
See, you have it wrong, I don't want that, but unlike you, I understand why it is needed. There is no way independents would be able to handle the workflow of all the chains without incorporating all the problems that come along with a chain. There really is no need for independents these days unless they have some specialty niche like HRT.

And in North Dakota, we see basically no need for chain pharmacies.


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It's probably not a terrible deal for target. Places like Target, Giant Eagle, and Walmart are probably happy to run their pharmacy at a loss just for the traffic in their store. By selling to CVS, they will probably be able to gain even more traffic in their store without having to take a loss so it makes sense.

Weather or not it makes sense for CVS is still the question but 1.9B seems like a relatively small amount considering their revenue is something like 125B and they are gaining 1,700 pharmacies as someone mentioned.

One thing to consider - CVS is driven by the profit of their pharmacies... Target is not. Is it better for the profession to have pharmacies that only exist to attract customer to buy groceries as opposed to pharmacies that are driven to make profit? I don't know the answer to this question by as far as reimbursement rates for pharmacies as a whole this cannot be all that bad since places like Target/Walmart/Giant Eagle are probably the first to accept terrible terms in these insurance contracts (if that what you call them) whereas CVS carries more leverage in negotiating. If reimbursement rates keep falling so will working conditions... so by becoming larger CVS in theory has more leverage and can hopefully become more profitable in the long run which obviously is good for their employees.

This post is pretty speculative but I'd like to hear your thoughts.
 
Don't they also require you to take a personality test? Yeah they only wanted to hire certain people. They were kinda like Abercrombie and Fitch of pharmacy.

Yes, absolutely. In my area, every Target RPh and DM is young, blonde and beautiful. I had 3 classmates in my class who worked for Target pharmacy for 5-8 years as techs/interns. None of them got job offers. Instead, they hired outsiders with no work experience who were more attractive. Sad but true.
 
Yes, absolutely. In my area, every Target RPh and DM is young, blonde and beautiful.

If all things are equal...hire the most attractive person. That's not a Target thing...that's an everywhere thing. Attractive people are generally given more leeway in life. And, most importantly, higher metric scores on customer satisfaction.
 
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We had an attractive staff pharmacist everyone loved her despite us being 10 pages in the red.

Her Asian replacement isn't so well loved
 
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I keep waiting for "CVS declares bankruptcy" headlines but I guess we are a long ways off from that. Poor Target staff...

I hope CVS never bankrupts. In fact, I would hate for any of my competitor to go bankrupt either. A huge reason why there are so many jobs for us is because of the chains. Chains that open right next to each other thus employing more pharmacists.

Plus if CVS goes bankrupts, that would mean Wags having all the power employment wise.
 
What will be interesting to watch is the dynamic between the store and pharmacy managers. Something tells me the days of waiving the complaining customer's copay so that they'll stay in the store are over.
 
If all things are equal...hire the most attractive person. That's not a Target thing...that's an everywhere thing. Attractive people are generally given more leeway in life. And, most importantly, higher metric scores on customer satisfaction.

Right, but all things weren't equal. Imagine working for Target Pharmacy as a technician for 2 years, then an intern for 6 years, and not getting a job offer because you weren't blonde and beautiful. I'm not surprised at all about the sense of resent in this thread towards Target pharmacy.

When I had a rotation at Target, this fresh new grad, known as "Hurricane Natasha", had never touched their computer system before. This was when they used PDX, which was not user friendly at all. She could do literally nothing but verify. She got paid $120k+ to verify less than 100 scripts per day, and still left a mess for the Rph the next day. One of the things she left for the next day was a refill request for birth control. The customer had no more refills left for her Apri, and Hurricane Natasha didn't know what to do. But hey, at least the customer satisfaction metric scores are higher with her than the intern with 8 years experience, right?
 
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Right, but all things weren't equal. Imagine working for Target Pharmacy as a technician for 2 years, then an intern for 6 years, and not getting a job offer because you weren't blonde and beautiful. I'm not surprised at all about the sense of resent in this thread towards Target pharmacy.

When I had a rotation at Target, this fresh new grad, known as "Hurricane Natasha", had never touched their computer system before. This was when they used PDX, which was not user friendly at all. She could do literally nothing but verify. She got paid $120k+ to verify less than 100 scripts per day, and still left a mess for the Rph the next day. One of the things she left for the next day was a refill request for birth control. The customer had no more refills left for her Apri, and Hurricane Natasha didn't know what to do. But hey, at least the customer satisfaction metric scores are higher with her than the intern with 8 years experience, right?

Yup. That's life. Beautiful people get things.
 
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Yup. That's life. Beautiful people get things.

Pretty much. Especially women...you can be an ugly ass guy and get promoted/get things; women for the most part have to be competent AND attractive to move up in a lot of different industries.
 
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Pretty much. Especially women...you can be an ugly ass guy and get promoted/get things; women for the most part have to be competent AND attractive to move up in a lot of different industries.

It goes like this:

Mike's Ease of Life Scale (easiest to hardest)

Pretty to incredibly beautiful white woman
Incredibly beautiful minority woman
Incredibly beautiful men
White men (non-hilljack)
Some minority men (Asian)
White women
Some minority women (Asian)
Minority whites (hilljack with accent, doesn't count if you can code shift like me and speak with a neutral accent)
Ugly/obese Woman
Hispanic people
Black woman
Arabic people, especially if wearing religious garb
Black man
Scary looking black man
 
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It goes like this:

Mike's Ease of Life Scale (easiest to hardest)

Pretty to incredibly beautiful white woman
Incredibly beautiful minority woman
Incredibly beautiful men
White men (non-hilljack)
Some minority men (Asian)
White women
Some minority women (Asian)
Minority whites (hilljack with accent, doesn't count if you can code shift like me and speak with a neutral accent)
Ugly/obese Woman
Hispanic people
Black woman
Arabic people, especially if wearing religious garb
Black man
Scary looking black man

It really helps if you include these catchy searchable terms in your CV for the next job...just my advice.
 
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If you read my comments I said SOME populations. Never said Medicaid. And I also never said anything about patients consuming their medications.

Health plan sponsors are the ones benefitting here. PBMs and community pharmacy are all downstream from yes fat Medicare bonuses. Hitting (or missing) a 5% bonus for large Medicare plans have big enough impact for Wall Street to notice. Take a look at stock activity for the big Medicare players during the times the CMS call letters are released. Change in rates or bonus calculations by CMS has impact.

In turn those Medicare sponsors pass on risk to the PBMs and for those of you that actually see pharmacy reimbursement contracts you are probably starting to see performance bonuses intertwined into script reimbursement through multiple methods including the DIR which has been mentioned in this thread a few times.

But then again what do I know, I just consult on managed care contracting.
But then again what do I know, I just consult on managed care contracting.

This guy is in managed care. Why are we arguing with him? He is part of the monopolized system. It's like the banker at Goldman-Sachs arguing against banking reform. This guy is making his living on managed care consulting. Of course he's going to be a die-hard advocate of CVS/Caremark ruling the world.
 
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This guy is in managed care. Why are we arguing with him? He is part of the monopolized system. It's like the banker at Goldman-Sachs arguing against banking reform. This guy is making his living on managed care consulting. Of course he's going to be a die-hard advocate of CVS/Caremark ruling the world.

That logic doesn't make any sense. Yes, let people like politicians make changes to a system when they dont know how it works.
 
Too bad for those who quit CVS to work for Target. Welcome back. Who is next? Ralphs? Vons?

We all know these pharmacies are not profitable. They are loss leader. Target is now getting out of the pharmacy business.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cvs-health-target-sign-agreement-110000092.html?.tsrc=applewf
At the end this is all part of a process of monopolization. CVS will try to keep Target's Pharmacies open for a while and if they don't see the profits coming out of it they will close them down, which means the need for Pharmacists will continue to drop. Welcome to slavery you new graduates....
 
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That logic doesn't make any sense. Yes, let people like politicians make changes to a system when they dont know how it works.

How does that logic not make any sense? The guy that likely does contractual work with CVS/Caremark is the best person to give objective information regarding CVS/Caremark? What part of my skepticism is not based in logic?

My advocacy is for not having PBM's and pharmacies tied together at the hip. What is so wrong about this approach? Wouldn't it be beneficial to have them separate entities? Please elaborate with how this isn't sensible to you.
 
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How does that logic not make any sense? The guy that likely does contractual work with CVS/Caremark is the best person to give objective information regarding CVS/Caremark? What part of my skepticism is not based in logic?

My advocacy is for not having PBM's and pharmacies tied together at the hip. What is so wrong about this approach? Wouldn't it be beneficial to have them separate entities? Please elaborate with how this isn't sensible to you.

Yeah you already know so much about him and you know his true intention. Give me a break. If you disagree with him then that is fine but questioning his intention?

Yes, the PBMs suck for independent pharmacies. That is how businesses work. The big guys are always going try to squeeze the little guys.

Why stop there? Why not create laws that would prevent CVS from starting minute clinics. Don't you want to separate prescribing vs dispensing too?

Our politicians are not smart. They know how to get elected but they have proven again and again they are incapable to run this country. Now you want them to pass more laws?
 
Don't take things for granted. CVS may have just saved Target from closing all of their pharmacies and laying off all of their pharmacists.

Target recently closed all of their Canadian stores because they were are not profitable. Target already said they are losing money with their pharmacies. Yeah CVS treats their employees like crap but at least you have a job and this buys you some time so you can look for a better job.
 
Yeah you already know so much about him and you know his true intention. Give me a break. If you disagree with him then that is fine but questioning his intention?

Yes, the PBMs suck for independent pharmacies. That is how businesses work. The big guys are always going try to squeeze the little guys.

Why stop there? Why not create laws that would prevent CVS from starting minute clinics. Don't you want to separate prescribing vs dispensing too?

Our politicians are not smart. They know how to get elected but they have proven again and again they are incapable to run this country. Now you want them to pass more laws?

I'm not advocating one way or another for more reimbursement for independents. That's not the main point of my argument. You have yet to address the main question:

Do you think its beneficial to have one PBM and one pharmacy as the same entity? It's a simple question. Which do you think creates more competition or is better for health outcomes? Do you believe having one entity as the PBM and the pharmacy as a good thing?

And I'm certainly not advocating for politicians to take over the PBM business. But there are anti-trust laws in this country. Monopoly is terrible private-sector policy. More PBM's and more pharmacies are what I advocate for. Having one colossus that is both a PBM and a pharmacy is detrimental.
 
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Yeah you already know so much about him and you know his true intention. Give me a break. If you disagree with him then that is fine but questioning his intention?

Yes, the PBMs suck for independent pharmacies. That is how businesses work. The big guys are always going try to squeeze the little guys.

Why stop there? Why not create laws that would prevent CVS from starting minute clinics. Don't you want to separate prescribing vs dispensing too?

Our politicians are not smart. They know how to get elected but they have proven again and again they are incapable to run this country. Now you want them to pass more laws?

Please copy and paste where I said the government should pass more laws. The Sherman Anti-Trust law was passed in 1890. I'm advocating for more competition and more choice for consumers. Rather than having one behemoth trend towards being the sole retail pharmacy choice in this country.
 
Please copy and paste where I said the government should pass more laws. The Sherman Anti-Trust law was passed in 1890. I'm advocating for more competition and more choice for consumers. Rather than having one behemoth trend towards being the sole retail pharmacy choice in this country.

How are you going to separate CVS retail from its PBM without major regulation? The regulators have looked at this and they have approved the merger.

It is easy to speculate this and that but what is the point? More competition can mean lower prices but it can also mean higher prices.

If you are getting married and if you to rent my banquet halls and hire my band then of course I am going to give you a better deal vs just renting my banquet halls.
 
CVS should always be cheaper than an independent given that the have more leverage with every entity that they do business with. As CVS absorbs more pharmacies their leverage only grows. This could be good for reimbursement rates but I would hesitate to say that it is good for the pharmacist.
 
How are you going to separate CVS retail from its PBM without major regulation? The regulators have looked at this and they have approved the merger.

It is easy to speculate this and that but what is the point? More competition can mean lower prices but it can also mean higher prices.

If you are getting married and if you to rent my banquet halls and hire my band then of course I am going to give you a better deal vs just renting my banquet halls.

If I get married and I want to use your banquet hall, then I reserve the right to use a different band. Especially if I think your band sucks. I don't want you forcing me to use your band just because I use your banquet hall. Then I'll just use a different banquet hall. And if you're the only person with a banquet hall for me to rent, then I'm going to dread my own wedding because I hate your band.

See how that works?
 
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If I get married and I want to use your banquet hall, then I reserve the right to use a different band. Especially if I think your band sucks. I don't want you forcing me to use your band just because I use your banquet hall. Then I'll just use a different banquet hall. And if you're the only person with a banquet hall for me to rent, then I'm going to dread my own wedding because I hate your band.

See how that works?

That is the whole problem. People like more choices but then complain when they have to pay more.

That is why CVS is able to offer a better rate for employers and therefore, employees. Their cost is obviously much lower (less administrative lost, drug rebates, etc) so they can offer a better deal. If you use their PBM, retail, minute clinic, etc then you would get a better price. This lets the consumers decide. More choices and pay more or less choices and pay less.
 
The solution is to eliminate PBMs from the equation except for a very small role in utilization management. PBMs exist solely to make money for the PBM. There would be a dramatic decrease in the cost of prescription drug delivery if PBMs were eliminated.

That will never happen. The next best thing is broad sweeping regulations that force PBMs into true transparency. No more secret MAC lists and spread pricing. PBMs should be regulated into charging a flat fee for each transaction. The plan sponsor will know exactly how much the pharmacy is being reimbursed and exactly the fee they are being charged by the PBM. PBMs should be bit players in all this not the driving force behind everything as they are now.
 
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The solution is to eliminate PBMs from the equation except for a very small role in utilization management. PBMs exist solely to make money for the PBM. There would be a dramatic decrease in the cost of prescription drug delivery if PBMs were eliminated.

That will never happen. The next best thing is broad sweeping regulations that force PBMs into true transparency. No more secret MAC lists and spread pricing. PBMs should be regulated into charging a flat fee for each transaction. The plan sponsor will know exactly how much the pharmacy is being reimbursed and exactly the fee they are being charged by the PBM. PBMs should be bit players in all this not the driving force behind everything as they are now.

I don't know if this is funny or just ironic. The people who are against the PBMs are also the same people who were working for the PBMs until they got laid off.

Didn't you tell us know great it was to be working for a PBM? Things change so fast when you are on the other team.

Walmart has a similar model. They deal with the employers directly and cut out the PBM. You figure if the PBM doesn't provide any value, this model would have worked by now. Certainly Walmart has the resources to make it into a success.
 
Excuse my ignorance, but why do PBMs exist? Aren't they just a middle man between the pharmacy and insurance company? Why can't pharmacies just bill the insurance directly?

Is Caremark an insurance company or PBM? What about United, Caresource, Atena, Express Scripts, Medco...

Are all of these PBMs or insurance companies?

I see united medicaid, caresource medicaid, buckeye medicaid, etc. The actual payer is Medicaid in all cases so does that mean these are all just PBMs?
 
That is the whole problem. People like more choices but then complain when they have to pay more.

That is why CVS is able to offer a better rate for employers and therefore, employees. Their cost is obviously much lower (less administrative lost, drug rebates, etc) so they can offer a better deal. If you use their PBM, retail, minute clinic, etc then you would get a better price. This lets the consumers decide. More choices and pay more or less choices and pay less.

CVS/Caremark does not offer a lower cost. CVS uses Caremark to unfairly manipulate the market in their favor and make it seem as if they are offering a lower cost. Remember the golden rule...He who has all the gold makes the rules. When you own a PBM you get to make the rules. It's like having a license to steal.

The whole situation with CVS and Caremark merging is absurd. It should have never been approved. It got approved because those in power know nothing about how PBMs and retail pharmacies work.
 
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Excuse my ignorance, but why do PBMs exist? Aren't they just a middle man between the pharmacy and insurance company? Why can't pharmacies just bill the insurance directly?

Is Caremark an insurance company or PBM? What about United, Caresource, Atena, etc.

Are all of these PBMs or insurance companies?

Same thing with healthcare plans. Why do you need United Health, Blue Cross? Why not let doctors directly bill the employers whatever they feel is reasonable?

Can you manage the amount of resources each employers would need to process these claims?
 
Same thing with healthcare plans. Why do you need United Health, Blue Cross? Why not let doctors directly bill the employers whatever they feel is reasonable?

Can you manage the amount of resources each employers would need to process these claims?

I have no idea what it entails to be honest. Does the PBM or insurance company negotiate drug costs?
 
CVS/Caremark does not offer a lower cost. CVS uses Caremark to unfairly manipulate the market in their favor and make it seem as if they are offering a lower cost. Remember the golden rule...He who has all the gold makes the rules. When you own a PBM you get to make the rules. It's like having a license to steal.

The whole situation with CVS and Caremark merging is absurd. It should have never been approved. It got approved because those in power know nothing about how PBMs and retail pharmacies work.

Why didn't say you all of these things when you were working for a PBM? You were in the belly of the beast but you kept your mouth shut.
 
I don't know if this is funny or just ironic. The people who are against the PBMs are also the same people who were working for the PBMs until they got laid off.

Didn't you tell us know great it was to be working for a PBM? Things change so fast when you are on the other team.

Walmart has a similar model. They deal with the employers directly and cut out the PBM. You figure if the PBM doesn't provide any value, this model would have worked by now. Certainly Walmart has the resources to make it into a success.

I quit Caremark to buy an independent pharmacy. I didn't get laid off nor was I in danger of being laid off. In fact I was consulting with a law firm about filing a whistle blower lawsuit when I came upon the opportunity to buy an independent. I know from first hand experience how shady the PBM world is. I could tell you some stories about Caremark! The supposed firewall between the retail side and PBM side...total BS.

Oh and believe me I didn't keep my mouth shut while I was there I assure you! MountainpharmD unleashed upon the office enviroment of a PBM was hilarious. Lets just say I was not meant for the world of office poliics!
 
I voluntarily testified in front of the State Board of Pharmacy concerning the need for State Board over site of PBMs. Believe me I was not quiet! That one prompted a visit from my department director who works in another city.
 
I voluntarily testified in front of the State Board of Pharmacy concerning the need for State Board over site of PBMs. Believe me I was not quiet! That one prompted a visit from my department director who works in another city.

Nice, what did you tell the board? Did Caremark pay you to keep your mouth shut?
 
Excuse my ignorance, but why do PBMs exist? Aren't they just a middle man between the pharmacy and insurance company? Why can't pharmacies just bill the insurance directly?

Is Caremark an insurance company or PBM? What about United, Caresource, Atena, Express Scripts, Medco...

Are all of these PBMs or insurance companies?

I see united medicaid, caresource medicaid, buckeye medicaid, etc. The actual payer is Medicaid in all cases so does that mean these are all just PBMs?

Why do PBMs exist? That my friend is the million dollar question!

In short PBMs exist to make a crap load of money for their shareholders. How do they do this? Very simply they pay pharmacies very little and charge plan sponsors a whole bunch. The difference between the two is called the spread and is how a PBM like Express Scripts rakes in billions of dollars in profit every year.
 
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It's a long story.

Believe me when I say PBMs are operating a scam for the sole purpose of massively profiting off a system they can operate in with impunity.

I am not going to disagree with you on that. I am not a fan of PBM myself but I understand it is a business and its sole purpose is to make money. They are going to squeeze the little guy, just like any other business.

However, what I don't get is all of these independent pharmacists complaining left and right. You know this is how the PBMs operate. You know they are not going to play fair but yet, you still decided to go head on with the 800 pound gorilla.
 
That is the whole problem. People like more choices but then complain when they have to pay more.

That is why CVS is able to offer a better rate for employers and therefore, employees. Their cost is obviously much lower (less administrative lost, drug rebates, etc) so they can offer a better deal. If you use their PBM, retail, minute clinic, etc then you would get a better price. This lets the consumers decide. More choices and pay more or less choices and pay less.

Maybe CVS will partner with Wal-Mart. This way you can go get your CVS medications and then buy your cheap shoes and your generic bread and your electric toothbrush all in the same spot. And also get your hair cut, do your taxes and deposit your checks.

Wow, monopoly is wonderful. Just imagine if Wal-Mart and CVS replace all other retail outlets. Then maybe we can have Southwest be the only airline. No business class but it'll be much cheaper so who cares!

I'm sorry but I don't agree. We can differ on opinions here. I don't think having PBM's and retail pharmacies as one company is an acceptable practice. You happen to think so. That's wonderful. But I prefer have the PBM's incentivize the pharmacies to behave a certain way without excluding pharmacies altogether. And I don't think having a joint company is beneficial.

I also think it's coercive and confusing to seniors to have CVS/Caremark put "CVS" on their insurance cards. Just like Wal-Mart's Humana plan. This is just a deceptive way of making people think only CVS or Wal-Mart are the only options.
 
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I am not going to disagree with you on that. I am not a fan of PBM myself but I understand it is a business and its sole purpose is to make money. They are going to squeeze the little guy, just like any other business.

However, what I don't get is all of these independent pharmacists complaining left and right. You know this is how the PBMs operate. You know they are not going to play fair but yet, you still decided to go head on with the 800 pound gorilla.

So all independent pharmacies should roll over and die? Close the doors, join CVS, and march in lock-step with the company that is trending toward monopolizing the market.

You aren't saying anything that people don't already know. The sole purpose of this argument is that PBM's and pharmacies shouldn't coincide as the same entity. I think independents are aware that giant retail chains are going to offer cheaper generics and certain services that they can't compete against. I don't think anyone is disputing that.

The question at hand is whether or not a PBM and a pharmacy forcing or incentivizing the use of only one pharmacy/mail order is good for health outcomes/the consumer at-large.
 
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I am not going to disagree with you on that. I am not a fan of PBM myself but I understand it is a business and its sole purpose is to make money. They are going to squeeze the little guy, just like any other business.

However, what I don't get is all of these independent pharmacists complaining left and right. You know this is how the PBMs operate. You know they are not going to play fair but yet, you still decided to go head on with the 800 pound gorilla.

Someone has to...and it's not just the little guys that are getting squeezed. Back to the point of this thread. There is a reason Target is getting out.
 
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So all independent pharmacies should roll over and die? Close the doors, join CVS, and march in lock-step with the company that is trending toward monopolizing the market.

You aren't saying anything that people don't already know. The sole purpose of this argument is that PBM's and pharmacies shouldn't coincide as the same entity. I think independents are aware that giant retail chains are going to offer cheaper generics and certain services that they can't compete against. I don't think anyone is disputing that.

The question at hand is whether or not a PBM and a pharmacy forcing or incentivizing the use of only one pharmacy/mail order is good for health outcomes/the consumer at-large.

Whether a company is a monopoly or not is not up to us to decide. It is up to the regulators and they have approved the merger. How long has it been? 8 years?

So go ahead and petition your congressional rep and have them pass new regulations so they can break up CVS and Caremark. Isn't that what it will take? Don't you need government intervention?

Isn't it funny how some people preach anti-government intervention until their livelihood depends on it?

It is like the people who are so anti-Obama but they don't want their government to take away their obamacare subsidies.
 
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What's the point? I already work for CVS. They'll just buy out whoever I move to anyway.

They really should just change the name to Umbrella corp.
 
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Target Team Members: Welcome to the CVS/Pharmacy Family


Dear Target Pharmacy Employee:

You have no idea how excited we were to hear that your new CEO (and my good friend) Brian Cornell was willing to throw you under the bus to placate the shareholders after your multibillion dollar failure in Canada! You've likely heard bad things about us, but don't fret, you'll have plenty of time to change your mind. And don't even think about looking for another job, we'll buy out any independent or grocery store chain you might think about running to. So unless you manage to get in at Wal-Mart , Costco, or a hospital, we're going to get to know each other really well.

Let me introduce you to our corporate slogan: Arbeit Macht Frei . It's a beautiful German saying meaning: Work Makes You Free. You probably don't comprehend it's beautiful and glorious meaning, but you will. Imagine the passion you will have for both work and life when you're working for 14 straight hours with no break. And imagine all the weight you'll be losing by giving up that 30 minute lunch break! What a favor we're doing you, you should be paying us! Don't worry though, things aren't going to change at all. Like your wages, we'll let you keep what you're making right now, even though it's much more then we pay our pharmacists and technicians. But don't you ever EVER ask for a raise you greedy swine! And we'll be moving your technicians to other stores and reducing your available tech hours. You should be able to fill 200 - 300 prescriptions solo you fat lazy scum.

I'll sign off with a little teaser of our corporate culture and the workflow you can expect as you transition over to your new position.
500px-The-human-centipede-first-sequence-diagram-2.jpg


Love,

Larry Merlo
 
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Whether a company is a monopoly or not is not up to us to decide. It is up to the regulators and they have approved the merger. How long has it been? 8 years?

So go ahead and petition your congressional rep and have them pass new regulations so they can break up CVS and Caremark. Isn't that what it will take? Don't you need government intervention?

Isn't it funny how some people preach anti-government intervention until their livelihood depends on it?

It is like the people who are so anti-Obama but they don't want their government to take away their obamacare subsidies.

The problem is that the government is in bed with these people, too. When Max Baucus began crafting the Affordable Care Act, his first act was to get the insurance companies, hospital groups, and big pharma in on the act. The reason HillaryCare failed 20+ years ago was because she didn't get the big money interests in the room when they made the legislation. Then you had all the ads that ultimately destroyed their attempts at universal health care.

The problem is that my legislators don't care about monopolies because all it will take is a fat check in their SuperPAC from Caremark and everything is just hunky dory.

I don't care what's happened with regulators in the past. CVS/Caremark's duopoly with Walgreen's isn't good for capitalism, consumers, or healthcare. You and I clearly have a difference of opinion. You prefer the duopoloy and potential monopoly. I oppose it.
 
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