How do free drug discount cards work?

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The pharmacies sign contracts and AGREE to a price they will sell the drugs for. The price is lower in the hopes that a new cash customer that is uninsured or under-insured with a discount card will pick up other items in the store. There is no gun to the pharmacists head. If they don't agree, then they should ignore the program. If you do a pharmacy lookup at one of the discount card sites you will see it is pretty much the bigger chains. You can also price the drugs on those same sites. CVS & Walgreens are ALWAYS far more than Kroger or Kmart.

This is a scam. period. They do nothing except make drugs a commodity..

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This is a scam. period. They do nothing except make drugs a commodity..

Do you even think before you type? These cards provide services like DUR... and to only take up to 50% or more away for this service that is performed by the pharmacy/pharmacist by law, and you think that is a scam? Plus reimbursement for cash customers is totally high enough anyway to get bartered down even further between chains. You are out of touch clearly.
 
Do you even think before you type? These cards provide services like DUR... and to only take up to 50% or more away for this service that is performed by the pharmacy/pharmacist by law, and you think that is a scam? Plus reimbursement for cash customers is totally high enough anyway to get bartered down even further between chains. You are out of touch clearly.

At least I think. First off all, you provide DUR, woopty doo. So does every pharmacy. You ignore my main point which is to turn the purchase of prescription drugs and pharmacy service into a commodity. If you think all you get is the drug and every store is the same well you are a fool. Some stores deliver, some have charge accounts, some are open 24 hours, some have emergency service. Some have DME fitters. Some have CDE's. Some will monitor BP, some will giv vaccinations. These cost money to provide and are factored into the price of the drug. the consumer has a choice of what store they patronize based on the combination of price and service provided. Again, if you think the price of the drug is all that matters, it is you that is 100% out of touch with reality as to the damage these cards do the professional practice of pharmacy.
 
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At least I think. First off all, you provide DUR, woopty doo. So does every pharmacy. You ignore my main point which is to turn the purchase of prescription drugs and pharmacy service into a commodity. If you think all you get is the drug and every store is the same well you are a fool. Some stores deliver, some have charge accounts, some are open 24 hours, some have emergency service. Some have DME fitters. Some have CDE's. Some will monitor BP, some will giv vaccinations. These cost money to provide and are factored into the price of the drug. the consumer has a choice of what store they patronize based on the combination of price and service provided. Again, if you think the price of the drug is all that matters, it is you that is 100% out of touch with reality as to the damage these cards do the professional practice of pharmacy.

I will have to agree with Oldtimer here...We provide free delivery, BP readings, charge accounts, and we lowered our front store OTC prices at or below Walmart. We do this to get people in the door so that we can get the prescription business...That is where we thrive. Accepting these discount cards is no good for business...Besides all it attracts are the addicted narcos looking for cheap oxycodone. I have rarely ever used these cards for regular rx's...It is a scam...Some cards even charge a fee to run the claim. One such card charges $4.50 per claim and supposedly it gets passed on to the customer within the price of the drug...SCAM!BS!
 
The PBM's broker the meds to the pharmacies at a previously agreed to price discount. One example is a med my wife has been taking for over 2 years, retails for $49 yet this entire time, she is only paying $12.42. Even as the same med has risen in retail.
Recently July 1, in her mom's case, tricare discontinued coverage of some meds for the veterans. The card we use that is FREE, saves the wife's mom (79) almost $197 a month and she has never bought into Part d.

It is the simplest free enterprise, and like you said it is described as a "Loss Leader" hoping the customers will pick some items in the store awaiting their refills. Same as grocery stores do a "Buy 1 Get 1 Free Sale" to get people to their stores. A perfect example of a Loss Leader.

Many Blessings To All

Our loss leaders are the front store items...prescription drugs account for 95% of our business...the large chains have a 65% ratio...Loss leaders for us are front store items to get them in the door. lastly, the large chains charge ridiculous amounts of money for generic drugs...We discount just enough to pay our bills, employee salaries, and programs we offer. We dont charge 49.99 for a drug that costs us 0.75 cents. But you do need to charge enough to grow and pay your bills...
 
At least I think. First off all, you provide DUR, woopty doo. So does every pharmacy. You ignore my main point which is to turn the purchase of prescription drugs and pharmacy service into a commodity. If you think all you get is the drug and every store is the same well you are a fool. Some stores deliver, some have charge accounts, some are open 24 hours, some have emergency service. Some have DME fitters. Some have CDE's. Some will monitor BP, some will giv vaccinations. These cost money to provide and are factored into the price of the drug. the consumer has a choice of what store they patronize based on the combination of price and service provided. Again, if you think the price of the drug is all that matters, it is you that is 100% out of touch with reality as to the damage these cards do the professional practice of pharmacy.

LOL, I was just being sarcastic after Drug-Not-So-Much-Of-A-Guru's posts. Those cards are absolutely absurd, and yes a complete scam with detrimental consequences to retail pharmacy across all sectors.
 
Great to hear! Good pricing always brings customers back.

About 80% of our use is generic drugs also b/c the profit margins are so huge that it allows for nice discounts vs. brand name drugs.

Patient brought in a card on friday for 120 oxycodone, here was the payment structure:

AWP Plan pay Pt pat
177.54 -76.91 137.50

Now, what we understand, is that we collect $137 dollars from the patient and then the discount program sends us an invoice for $76.91...thus the negative number in the plan pay field...:laugh: these cards are a complete joke...
 
Patient brought in a card on friday for 120 oxycodone, here was the payment structure:

AWP Plan pay Pt pat
177.54 -76.91 137.50

Now, what we understand, is that we collect $137 dollars from the patient and then the discount program sends us an invoice for $76.91...thus the negative number in the plan pay field...:laugh: these cards are a complete joke...

You are kidding right, nobody sends you a bill....
 
You are kidding right, nobody sends you a bill....

actually, some of then do, they send you a processing fee bill...we've gotten bills for $1.00 for processing an rx. Im still not quite sure what the -76 dollars meant.
 
actually, some of then do, they send you a processing fee bill...we've gotten bills for $1.00 for processing an rx. Im still not quite sure what the -76 dollars meant.

It's just the stupidity of your software program and what they display when they get the response from the switch.
 
It's just the stupidity of your software program and what they display when they get the response from the switch.

im glad to know the software is stupid cause we were flabbergasted...anyhow those discounts cards are terrible...

Oldtimer, havent heard from you in awhile...hows it all going? CVS still good?
 
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im glad to know the software is stupid cause we were flabbergasted...anyhow those discounts cards are terrible...

Oldtimer, havent heard from you in awhile...hows it all going? CVS still good?

Still good in my part of the world.... I'm glad to see you are doing well & the business is growing.
 
Still good in my part of the world.... I'm glad to see you are doing well & the business is growing.

Glad to hear all is well! On my way to a meeting with the admin of an ALF with 47 total beds! Hopefully they will switch over to us!
 
Glad to hear all is well! On my way to a meeting with the admin of an ALF with 47 total beds! Hopefully they will switch over to us!

That's the way to go. The only problem is you can't have your business dependent upon politics. The get a new admin and his son-in-law owns a pharmacy and there you go. It's great as a sideline, but don't let yourself get caught up in business you can't control with the service you provide. In other words, your walk-in retail trade is puts dinner on the table. The ALF is dessert.
 
That's the way to go. The only problem is you can't have your business dependent upon politics. The get a new admin and his son-in-law owns a pharmacy and there you go. It's great as a sideline, but don't let yourself get caught up in business you can't control with the service you provide. In other words, your walk-in retail trade is puts dinner on the table. The ALF is dessert.

Oldtimer, you are 110% correct. Admin never showed up. Talk about professional. Wasted my time in the morning and i missed my morning crossfit workout...oh well, win some, lose some!
 
Not to beat a dead horse, but I heard this a few years ago and recently heard it featured again on This American Life. There's a link to the podcast below; you should be able to listen straight from the webpage.

The program talks about what happens with these "discount" cards, who's behind them, and how they cause insurers to pick up the tab on increasingly expensive meds and result in higher insurance costs for everyone...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2009/09/podcast_clipping_coupons_for_h.html

Here's the story, as covered by the Wall Street Journal (intro is free, but appears to require payment for the whole article; sorry):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124804603437163631.html
 
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Well, it's certainly true that we've seen a tremendous decline in the number of independent pharmacies in this country over the past few decades. Even the number of small chains has greatly decreased, as they have been acquired by companies like CVS and Rite Aid. The big three pharmacy chains have even been able to penetrate the New York City market to a good degree (CVS and Rite Aid have been increasing their presence their over the last 20 or so years, and while a few Walgreens stores were always there, their recent acquisition of Duane Reade greatly increased their share of the NYC market). I believe that this is sad.

Anyway, what I don't understand is why people seem, predominantly, to place so much blame on companies that issue prescription discount cards. Really, I believe one needs to look at a variety of factors to understand why it is so difficult for independents. Certainly one of the major factors has been the increasing dominance of the three big chains.

The truth is that a very large number of pharmacies (and I'm not saying all) -- inclusive of both chain stores and independents -- enormously inflate the prices prescriptions, particularly generics, to cash customers who simply pay a pharmacy's regular retail cash price.

Discount cards, IMO, essentially arose because of this. Up until the 1980's, prescription drugs were not nearly so costly as they are now, even when adjusting for inflation. In fact, people who had health insurance up until that time often did not have prescription insurance. But when the costs of prescriptions began to spiral, prescription insurance plans became very common among those with health insurance.

Some people here seem to blame companies that issue discount cards for effectively forcing pharmacists to lower their charges for prescriptions. But in reality, if any type of company is to blame initially, it would be prescription insurance companies. Depending upon the prescription insurance plan, druggists would sometimes be forced to charge a flat fee of just a couple of dollars above cost for a prescription. And, pharmacies -- both independent and chain alike -- had no choice but to accept these plans because if they didn't they knew that their customers would simply go to a competitor pharmacy that did. This was roughest on independents, of course, since they relied much more heavily on profit from prescriptions than big chains.

What some pharmacies understandably did to try to offset this was to significantly increase the markup, particularly on generics, to cash paying customers. So, in essence, cash customers -- who often can least afford to do so -- have been subsidizing the already reduced prescription costs of those who have prescription insurance.

All companies that issue most of these discount cards did was to seize upon this, and negotiate a discount for prescription drug prices with pharmacies. While no pharmacy had to accept any of these cards, most did because, as with insurance plans, pharmacies knew that if they didn't that they faced the possibility of losing their cash customers too. And it's not as if major prescription insurance plans now don't negotiate discounted prices. In fact, their negotiated prices are probably the lowest of all -- sometimes significantly below that of a discount card, depending on the card and the drug.

It's a very unfortunate situation for both independents and cash customers now, since frequently neither have sufficient means -- whether it be to stay in business, or to afford the cost of a drug.

Please note that I am not affiliated with (do not own nor have any financial interest in) any prescription drug plan, nor with any major pharmacy chain.


,
 
Well, it's certainly true that we've seen a tremendous decline in the number of independent pharmacies in this country over the past few decades. Even the number of small chains has greatly decreased, as they have been acquired by companies like CVS and Rite Aid. The big three pharmacy chains have even been able to penetrate the New York City market to a good degree (CVS and Rite Aid have been increasing their presence their over the last 20 or so years, and while a few Walgreens stores were always there, their recent acquisition of Duane Reade greatly increased their share of the NYC market). I believe that this is sad.

Anyway, what I don't understand is why people seem, predominantly, to place so much blame on companies that issue prescription discount cards. Really, I believe one needs to look at a variety of factors to understand why it is so difficult for independents. Certainly one of the major factors has been the increasing dominance of the three big chains.

The truth is that a very large number of pharmacies (and I'm not saying all) -- inclusive of both chain stores and independents -- enormously inflate the prices prescriptions, particularly generics, to cash customers who simply pay a pharmacy's regular retail cash price.

Discount cards, IMO, essentially arose because of this. Up until the 1980's, prescription drugs were not nearly so costly as they are now, even when adjusting for inflation. In fact, people who had health insurance up until that time often did not have prescription insurance. But when the costs of prescriptions began to spiral, prescription insurance plans became very common among those with health insurance.

Some people here seem to blame companies that issue discount cards for effectively forcing pharmacists to lower their charges for prescriptions. But in reality, if any type of company is to blame initially, it would be prescription insurance companies. Depending upon the prescription insurance plan, druggists would sometimes be forced to charge a flat fee of just a couple of dollars above cost for a prescription. And, pharmacies -- both independent and chain alike -- had no choice but to accept these plans because if they didn't they knew that their customers would simply go to a competitor pharmacy that did. This was roughest on independents, of course, since they relied much more heavily on profit from prescriptions than big chains.

What some pharmacies understandably did to try to offset this was to significantly increase the markup, particularly on generics, to cash paying customers. So, in essence, cash customers -- who often can least afford to do so -- have been subsidizing the already reduced prescription costs of those who have prescription insurance.

All companies that issue most of these discount cards did was to seize upon this, and negotiate a discount for prescription drug prices with pharmacies. While no pharmacy had to accept any of these cards, most did because, as with insurance plans, pharmacies knew that if they didn't that they faced the possibility of losing their cash customers too. And it's not as if major prescription insurance plans now don't negotiate discounted prices. In fact, their negotiated prices are probably the lowest of all -- sometimes significantly below that of a discount card, depending on the card and the drug.

It's a very unfortunate situation for both independents and cash customers now, since frequently neither have sufficient means -- whether it be to stay in business, or to afford the cost of a drug.

Please note that I am not affiliated with (do not own nor have any financial interest in) any prescription drug plan, nor with any major pharmacy chain.


,

On a scale from 1-10 your knowledge of the retail pharmacy industry would be a:

0
Stick to things you know about like red telephones....
 
Stick to things you know about like red telephones....
:laugh:


Anyway, while this is bumped... we recently had a policy change that we can't override prices anymore. Our old method was if somebody didn't have insurance, we would price the drug either some % off of AWP or a fixed number (say $20) over cost. We've looked into using a few of these discount cards for patients who are suddenly getting charged big bucks, and some of them turn out to a happy medium where we still make a good buck, and the copay isn't too bad for the patient.

But every now and then, a price will spit out that is BELOW our cost. The label will actually say "reimbursed $x < cost." Just something to look out for if you're trying to use one of these cards to help a patient out. By all means I don't want to kill anybody with a copay, but we're not a charity either.
 
You are so full of you know what I can predict your eyes are brown. Your pie in the sky model works if new customers come in because you accept the card, except it's ALMOST NEVER the way it works. What happens is your cash paying customer who was paying $150.00 per month for drug X now pays $125.00 per month and you just lost $300.00 per year. Multiply that by 100 patients that take three medications each and it's $90,000.00 per year. There is no upside for the independent to take these and the person who thought this *****ic idea up needs to be villianized as one of the destroyers of community pharmacy.
Old Timer you left our one huge variable- if the cash paying customer comes to your pharmacy and the drug was $150.00 nine out of 10 times they are going to say :" I can't afford it o they going to take the prescription back and head to Wal-Mart. So what's the better option- let them take the prescription bac and shop around another pharmacy for a "cheaper" price or add the discount and at least make something off the medication? I think it's quite clear the latter is the better business approach. I will offer the discount card if at drop off the customer is hesitant about paying what eve the retail price is- and then if they ask for the prescription back- when they say:"oh let's see if a discount will bring it down some..." However, I don't allow my techs to use that card on pain meds or xanax, etc.
 
If you don't want to accept the program, then don't! However, you will then lose all your business to the pharmacy that does. If you were in the medical field for the money, you made a wrong and greedy decision. You should've went into business. Medical costs are through the roof in the United States, and programs like these save people's lives. You people who don't care about that are scum. You put profits ahead of your customers. Big mistake in any business. You will not last with or without these discount cards. I can already tell you don't have what it takes, so to speak.
 
If you don't want to accept the program, then don't! However, you will then lose all your business to the pharmacy that does. If you were in the medical field for the money, you made a wrong and greedy decision. You should've went into business. Medical costs are through the roof in the United States, and programs like these save people's lives. You people who don't care about that are scum. You put profits ahead of your customers. Big mistake in any business. You will not last with or without these discount cards. I can already tell you don't have what it takes, so to speak.

:laugh::laugh:
 
We use something called Clarity Services Discount Card and even CVS has its own discount card I have seen laying around somewhere. I wondered the same thing but as long as the management is not complaining and the patient are happy there is no reason to stop their usage. If I had my own independed pharmacy then it would have been a different story. I don't understand if the Pharmacy is loosing so much money from this cards how come the management hasn't noticed
 
If you don't want to accept the program, then don't! However, you will then lose all your business to the pharmacy that does. If you were in the medical field for the money, you made a wrong and greedy decision. You should've went into business. Medical costs are through the roof in the United States, and programs like these save people's lives. You people who don't care about that are scum. You put profits ahead of your customers. Big mistake in any business. You will not last with or without these discount cards. I can already tell you don't have what it takes, so to speak.

While I do agree medical costs are way too high in the United States, I disagree with everything else you have said.

If you think the main intent of these discount cards is to save lives, you need to think again. These cards are a huge scam. The main purpose is to take advantage of a part of the healthcare system to make money for the owners of the discount cards via a processing fee that the pharmacies are charged to run them. This causes the pharmacies to either make almost no money or take a loss which then causes them to raise their prices to make up for this lost. Yes, most people in healthcare want to help people. However, healthcare is, at the end of the day, a business. You provide a service and should be adequately compensated. You can't help people if you can't feed your own family and pay your employees, etc.

Therefore, these discount cards are also a part of the problem. They are no different than people taking advantage of Medicaid/Medicare for monetary gains. Anyone who thinks otherwise is completely naive.
 
My company's policy is not to take these discount cards.
 
I'm a tech at a pharmacy, and we recently got a packet of "Free Drug Discount Cards" that we can put in for the uninsured, or for those whose prescriptions aren't covered by insurance... I've put some in and seen the people's copays drop by anywhere between $10 and $250... HOW DOES IT WORK??

I have no problem getting people their prescriptions for lower out of pocket costs, but who picks up that remainder of payment that the card took off? Nothing's ever "free"... How can a company out there afford this?

I work for one of these companys. The way it works is it is a negotiated price that varies by zipcode and pharmacy chain. The other bad thing about some of these cards is they will try and steal pharmacy customers by then using their info to promote mail order. Try out the Ohio Drug Card... we visit hospitals and clinics and push traffic to the pharmacies. We do not promote mailorder so you do not have to worry about us poaching customers. My mother for instance is an OBGYN. She had to get a perscription and with her insurance cost $138. Just by using the card she then got it for $42. It really is a great way to help people! Best part is its available for almost every perscription and by going to ohiodrugcard.com users can look up their prescription price based on zipcode and which chain and location is cheapest for them to use.
Keep doing what your doing, its great to see that you care about helping people out on the huge costs some medications have.
 
ive used a couple cards i found on the internet, and now i have gotten a bunch of emails talking about getting my prescription refilled, almost daily. My Spam filter cant catch it, because they come from different addresses. doesnt mention the script by name, but has some of my other information. BEWARE, and Just do your research,
 
I promote a drug discount card. For every cash claim that my card is run through, I make $1.25. I am currently making an extra $700 a month from all the cash claims my card is being run through.

The way these cards work is like this:

1) A company (my company is USARX) contracts with a PBM (Catamaran). The PBM in turn already has contracts with pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, grocery stores, independents, etc. The store accepting these cards will have a price returned to them to charge the customer. At CVS and Walgreens, the prices for cash drugs will decrease usually. At my independent, the prices for drugs increases because we are selling our cash prescriptions very cheap already. The CVS or Walgreens or independent will almost always (sometimes not) pay a fee to the PBM to run a claim to the discount card card. This fee ranges from $0 to $5 usually.

2) The discount card company (USARX) has distributors (me) who hand out the card to patients, pharmacies, doctor's office, vet offices, etc. When the end user (customer or pharmacy) uses a discount card, the BIN, PCN is always the same, the ID number usually can be anything (cards market it as patient's phone number sometimes), and it is THE GROUP NUMBER that identifies the distributor. Different distributors have different group numbers.

The reason these cards are so heavily promoted? Because every time you run a discount card through, there is a person actually making anywhere between 75 cents to $1.50 or more per every claim. Every time you use a discount card for a customer, you are indirectly paying the distributor (me) a $1.25. Thank you!

The PBM is making money from this. They are getting paid from the pharmacy. The pharmacy is gaining a new customer. The pharmacy's gross margin on the prescription is decreased, but they are still making money on the prescription, just not as much. At CVS, instead of robbing a customer of $500 for 90 generic plavix and CVS profiting $495, not CVS is only profiting $15 because the price may be reduced to $20. The discount card company is making money from the PBM. The distributor (identified by the group number) is making money from the discount card company. They are paid a fee for every claim run through their discount card.

If anybody is interested in actually making money from these cards, contact me and I can explain further and set you up. It's pretty nice to get a check every month for an extra $700 a month. At the end of the year you have to pay taxes on this money, because it's untaxed money you are receiving from the discount card company. You are not their employee, instead you are a contractor who is getting paid a bill.

Do not let your employer know. It is a conflict of interest at CVS. I still did it for 3 years, and I still continue to do so. I never liked how CVS would rob hard working, innocent cash paying customers for drugs that cost only a few dollars or pennies.
 
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Have you sold your CVS stocks yet?
 
Have you sold your CVS stocks yet?

Nope. $96,000 strong after only putting into ESPP for 2 and 1/2 years. I went through 5 cycles and still have shares at $35 a piece.

I still hate the company. Planning to cash out in the next few months.
 
If you don't want to accept the program, then don't! However, you will then lose all your business to the pharmacy that does.

Wrong. If that were true, pharmacies with the highest prices would be going out of business (ie CVS, Walgreens....) That doesn't happen because price isn't everything.

Try out the Ohio Drug Card... we visit hospitals and clinics and push traffic to the pharmacies. We do not promote mailorder so you do not have to worry about us poaching customers.

1 post wonders
 
If the price goes up with the discount card your pharmacy has a big problem. You are required to bill the PBM the lower of your U&C (cash) price or their contracted price. This is the whole reason retail pharmacies created savings programs that require you to purchase a membership. That way they don't decrease their U&C price by selling these drugs cheaper to "members".
 
PBMs are cheaters. It doesn't even matter what you bill a PBM. They will pay you whatever they want to pay you. They are a hindrance in the prescription health care system. It doesn't make sense how United Health Care can make a member pay a $25 copay for #60 metformin 500mg when cost is only 30 cents, and then take money back from the pharmacy of $20.

PBMs are cheaters. They are money hungry and they are the worst of the worst. I'll submit a bill to a PBM of whatever I want and I still get paid the same.
 
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PBMs are cheaters. They are money hungry and they are the worst of the worst. I'll submit a bill to a PBM of whatever I want and I still get paid the same.

Isn't the price you are paid determined by your contract? The PBM may be paying you whatever they want to, but I'm pretty sure that would have been spelled out in your contract.
 
Obviously you have your opinion which is heavily biased as I have mine. I answer only to our members (most of which are uninsured) that saved well over $100M in 2009 off retail rates.

I answered every question truthfully and gave examples of how to embrace such plans as they aren't going anywhere. You can continue to buck the trend but your fate is in your hands.

I only hope that your customers don't see the characteristics that you show on this forum and that guests viewing this thread don't start stereotyping pharmacists/owners based on your actions.

Thank you for your answers.
In terms of marketing, is the information linked to the patient? So if I have patient Sally Smith on Lithium are these pieces linked together for data mining or other purposes?
These cards are very helpful to patients.
 
I promote a drug discount card. For every cash claim that my card is run through, I make $1.25. I am currently making an extra $700 a month from all the cash claims my card is being run through.

The way these cards work is like this:

1) A company (my company is USARX) contracts with a PBM (Catamaran). The PBM in turn already has contracts with pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, grocery stores, independents, etc. The store accepting these cards will have a price returned to them to charge the customer. At CVS and Walgreens, the prices for cash drugs will decrease usually. At my independent, the prices for drugs increases because we are selling our cash prescriptions very cheap already. The CVS or Walgreens or independent will almost always (sometimes not) pay a fee to the PBM to run a claim to the discount card card. This fee ranges from $0 to $5 usually.

2) The discount card company (USARX) has distributors (me) who hand out the card to patients, pharmacies, doctor's office, vet offices, etc. When the end user (customer or pharmacy) uses a discount card, the BIN, PCN is always the same, the ID number usually can be anything (cards market it as patient's phone number sometimes), and it is THE GROUP NUMBER that identifies the distributor. Different distributors have different group numbers.

The reason these cards are so heavily promoted? Because every time you run a discount card through, there is a person actually making anywhere between 75 cents to $1.50 or more per every claim. Every time you use a discount card for a customer, you are indirectly paying the distributor (me) a $1.25. Thank you!

The PBM is making money from this. They are getting paid from the pharmacy. The pharmacy is gaining a new customer. The pharmacy's gross margin on the prescription is decreased, but they are still making money on the prescription, just not as much. At CVS, instead of robbing a customer of $500 for 90 generic plavix and CVS profiting $495, not CVS is only profiting $15 because the price may be reduced to $20. The discount card company is making money from the PBM. The distributor (identified by the group number) is making money from the discount card company. They are paid a fee for every claim run through their discount card.

If anybody is interested in actually making money from these cards, contact me and I can explain further and set you up. It's pretty nice to get a check every month for an extra $700 a month. At the end of the year you have to pay taxes on this money, because it's untaxed money you are receiving from the discount card company. You are not their employee, instead you are a contractor who is getting paid a bill.

Do not let your employer know. It is a conflict of interest at CVS. I still did it for 3 years, and I still continue to do so. I never liked how CVS would rob hard working, innocent cash paying customers for drugs that cost only a few dollars or pennies.

I have thought about doing this scheme a few years ago... but then understood that this is illegal as it is considered a "kick back". The card program that I was looking into told me so and said because I was a pharmacy employee, not eligible.
 
Say a drug costs the pharmacy $10, and the pharmacy is selling it for $20. With the discount card, the cost is lowered to $12. If the pharmacy is receiving no reimbursement from the card plus paying potential transaction fees, then why would any pharmacy allow the use of the card? I really don't understand.

As for manufacture cards that can be used with insurance, is there any sort of reimbursement with these?

I just don't see ANY point. If you want to help the patient so much, why not just manually lower the price? How is a discount card necessary? (Unless you work for a chain and cannot manually change the price)

I was always under the assumption that drug companies paid for the lower price and the card distributor benefited by collecting processing free but this doesn't really seem to be the case. Doesn't make sense
 
I just don't see ANY point. If you want to help the patient so much, why not just manually lower the price? How is a discount card necessary? (Unless you work for a chain and cannot manually change the price)
I was always under the assumption that drug companies paid for the lower price and the card distributor benefited by collecting processing free but this doesn't really seem to be the case. Doesn't make sense

No, the pharmacy always pays with these discount cards (now discount cards for a specific drug from DRUG companies are different, in these cases, the company does pay the pharmacist the difference & usually a very small handling fee as well.)
With the generic discount cards, the selling point is advertisement, the company lists your pharmacy on their website as someone who will take their discount card (and sometimes on the discount card itself), so the pharmacy can consider the drug discount as an advertising cost. The pharmacy uses the discount card as a loss leader, hoping that the patient will buy other things when they come into the pharmacy, and transfer in other prescriptions that they get a minimal or no discount on with their discount card (the big losses come from generic drugs, with brand name drugs, the markdown usually isn't much.) I guess it works out, since pharmacies are obviously not going bankrupt from these cards.
 
How do free drug discount cards work?

Simple.

Its-magic....gif
 
No, the pharmacy always pays with these discount cards (now discount cards for a specific drug from DRUG companies are different, in these cases, the company does pay the pharmacist the difference & usually a very small handling fee as well.)
With the generic discount cards, the selling point is advertisement, the company lists your pharmacy on their website as someone who will take their discount card (and sometimes on the discount card itself), so the pharmacy can consider the drug discount as an advertising cost. The pharmacy uses the discount card as a loss leader, hoping that the patient will buy other things when they come into the pharmacy, and transfer in other prescriptions that they get a minimal or no discount on with their discount card (the big losses come from generic drugs, with brand name drugs, the markdown usually isn't much.) I guess it works out, since pharmacies are obviously not going bankrupt from these cards.

I guess advertising was an aspect I didn't consider, though 90% of the time once of these cards is used (at least where I work) it's because the drop off tech put it in and not because the customer handed it to us, in which case we are giving away money if I'm not mistaken?
 
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