CVS buys Target pharmacies!

[ldiot]

Actually, they are supposed to say, "Thanks for calling CVS Health formerly Target pharmacy," and then the rest of their spiel.

Some local chains and grocery stores answer with a spiel like "That you for calling pill mill pharmacy located at backpain drive, my name is Radhika, pharmacy technician, how can I help you"

I skip all the bs and get to the point, but hearing them makes me feel unprofessional lol.

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[ldiot]

You've asked me this about 75 times and I've told you 100 times. It should be federal policy that you don't have corporate PBM and corporate pharmacies as the same entity. Just like I don't want McDonald's also in charge of their own food inspection grading. It makes absolutely no sense to have the pharmacy benefit manager and the pharmacy in cohoots.



Well, of course, they're cutting you a check.

Do you genuinely believe having 1 or 2 pharmacies that also own PBM's helps lower overall healthcare costs? Be sincere for a second. Take off your money-making cap. That is absurd. Break up the combinations of pharmacies and PBM's is the first step in promoting quality healthcare.

PBMs aren't regulatory agencies so your McDonalds thing is kind of missing the mark. CVS/Caremark, for example, lowers healthcare costs. Plane and simple. They can offer discounts to insurance companies due to the high volume and streamlined process. It benefits the consumer and insurance provider.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this isn't anti-competitive. I'm just saying that if you want to make an argument against these entities don't do it by saying that they raise health care costs because they don't. Do it by saying they are anti-competitive and small business owners cannot compete.

 

[lane one]

Are they only able to see Target stores on there Wecare? In my district and region it's only the original CVS stores that show up on the Wecare list. Seems like the Target CVS's are on there own

Yeah they're totally separate. When I said the whole district I meant the target district.

 

[maria1oh]

I had a phone interview at Target back in 2013 and was told their highest volume pharmacies are the ones in Alaska lol.

Cvs/caremark does not lower health care costs. Ever notice how cvs is one of the most expensive pharmacies. Even as a cvs employee with their insurance plan it was slightly cheaper to use kroger pharmacy with no insurance.

 

[Old]

PBMs aren't regulatory agencies so your McDonalds thing is kind of missing the mark. CVS/Caremark, for example, lowers healthcare costs. Plane and simple. They can offer discounts to insurance companies due to the high volume and streamlined process. It benefits the consumer and insurance provider.

Huh? CVS/Caremark benefits the consumer and insurance providers? Oh, I get it a Pharmacy Student. But, where does the "Plane" fit into this. The CVS plane helps everyone also?

 

[ldiot]

@Old

Don't take this the wrong way... CVS is a terrible company. They wipe their ass on their employees and flush them down the toilet as it suits them. They would rather run the place like a sweatshop than spend the cash to put a minimum wage cashier in the pharmacy. That being said, it's an undisputed fact that they save employers money. They are a big enough company that they can administer the plans more efficiently and have significant negotiating power with drug companies. Yeah you might pay a 5 dollar co-pay at Kroger and a 10 dollar co-pay at CVS with your one specific insurance plan getting one specific drug, and cash prices are always the highest at CVS, but at the end of they day they lower healthcare costs as a whole. If they didn't they wouldn't administer over 2,000 plans and save their average client $2,000/year per insured person.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

@Old

Don't take this the wrong way... CVS is a terrible company. They wipe their ass on their employees and flush them down the toilet as it suits them. They would rather run the place like a sweatshop than spend the cash to put a minimum wage cashier in the pharmacy. That being said, it's an undisputed fact that they save employers money. They are a big enough company that they can administer the plans more efficiently and have significant negotiating power with drug companies. Yeah you might pay a 5 dollar co-pay at Kroger and a 10 dollar co-pay at CVS with your one specific insurance plan getting one specific drug, and cash prices are always the highest at CVS, but at the end of they day they lower healthcare costs as a whole. If they didn't they wouldn't administer over 2,000 plans and save their average client $2,000/year per insured person.

So what you mean is that CVS saves employers money. What you likely cant show is whether or not these beings are passed down to the consumer. Here's a hint: they aren't.

 

[ldiot]

So what you mean is that CVS saves employers money. What you likely cant show is whether or not these beings are passed down to the consumer. Here's a hint: they aren't.

Well if they save employers money those savings would presumably be reflected in the pay of their employees. It wouldn't surprise me if they aren't but you can't really blame CVS for that can you? Whether or not the end consumer saves money I would still argue that healthcare costs as a whole are lower seeing as the employer saves 2k/insured.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Well if they save employers money those savings would presumably be reflected in the pay of their employees. It wouldn't surprise me if they aren't but you can't really blame CVS for that can you? Whether or not the end consumer saves money I would still argue that healthcare costs as a whole are lower seeing as the employer saves 2k/insured.

But see, those Healthcare costs aren't. Higher copay and deductibles combined with narrower formulary means more out of pocket costs for the consumer. Prices are roughly the same, if not worse, than they've always been. Only difference is that now insurance is picking up less of the tab.

 

[Carol is Alpha]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...dreds-of-smaller-format-stores-driving-growth

Target like may retailers is in a death spiral. Looking back on that deal, I think Target came to CVS desperate to shed an asset. CVS took a look at the pig and decided to pay only for the rx files. Sure they put up a front about rebranding Target pharmacies, but please, let's be real.