CVS charges consumers more if you have insurance

[debbiedowner]

Using insurance cost woman more for her prescription, lawsuit says

A California woman is suing CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in America, for allegedly charging more to customers who use insurance to pay for certain generic prescriptions.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, accuses CVS Health Corporation of participating in a "fraudulent scheme" and claims the plaintiff, Megan Schultz, paid $165.68 for a prescription in July that, had she bought without using insurance, would have only cost $92.

"CVS never told her that paying in cash would allow her to pay 45% less for the drug; instead, CVS remained silent and took her money — knowing full well that no reasonable consumer would make such a choice," the complaint says...............

 

[dblack]

"CVS never told her that paying in cash would allow her to pay 45% less for the drug; instead, CVS remained silent and took her money — knowing full well that no reasonable consumer would make such a choice," the complaint says...............

People with insurance aren't reasonable customers. And it wasn't her money. That's the problem.

 

[debbiedowner]

The deal is if the drug is cheaper than whatever you copay or your insurance says, you should pay the lesser amount. Every drug I have ever gotten filled at Walgreens and another pharmacy do just that. CVS used to but they started stiffing me a year ago so I changed pharmacies. A major insurer in some states dropped CVS as a provider mid year 2016 for under 65 but was not a preferred list for over.

 

[dblack]

The deal is if the drug is cheaper than whatever you copay or your insurance says, you should pay the lesser amount. Every drug I have ever gotten filled at Walgreens and another pharmacy do just that. CVS used to but they started stiffing me a year ago so I changed pharmacies. A major insurer in some states dropped CVS as a provider mid year 2016 for under 65 but was not a preferred list for over.

Yeah. I was just pointing out the elephant-in-the-room fact that you insurance salesmen won't ever acknowledge - insurance actually screws up health care markets by perverting the incentives of nearly everyone involved. It's a destructive force in the market and we should quit using government to encourage it.

 

[debbiedowner]

The deal is if the drug is cheaper than whatever you copay or your insurance says, you should pay the lesser amount. Every drug I have ever gotten filled at Walgreens and another pharmacy do just that. CVS used to but they started stiffing me a year ago so I changed pharmacies. A major insurer in some states dropped CVS as a provider mid year 2016 for under 65 but was not a preferred list for over.

Yeah. I was just pointing out the elephant-in-the-room fact that you insurance salesmen won't ever acknowledge - insurance actually screws up health care markets by perverting the incentives of nearly everyone involved. It's a destructive force in the market and we should quit using government to encourage it.

So let's all go without insurance, health, life, auto, home, etc. Let's see you live in a house after a tornado, hurricane or flood hits it.

It's damn near always been that if a drug is cheaper than your co pay you pay the lower price. Not my fault CVS is gouging people.

 

[dblack]

The deal is if the drug is cheaper than whatever you copay or your insurance says, you should pay the lesser amount. Every drug I have ever gotten filled at Walgreens and another pharmacy do just that. CVS used to but they started stiffing me a year ago so I changed pharmacies. A major insurer in some states dropped CVS as a provider mid year 2016 for under 65 but was not a preferred list for over.

Yeah. I was just pointing out the elephant-in-the-room fact that you insurance salesmen won't ever acknowledge - insurance actually screws up health care markets by perverting the incentives of nearly everyone involved. It's a destructive force in the market and we should quit using government to encourage it.

So let's all go without insurance, health, life, auto, home, etc. Let's see you live in a house after a tornado, hurricane or flood hits it.

It's damn near always been that if a drug is cheaper than your co pay you pay the lower price. Not my fault CVS is gouging people.

Let me ask you this: Do you acknowledge, at all, the harm that too much insurance does to a market? Let's say, for example, we treated food the same way we've treated health care, and promoted employer-provided "group food insurance". Do you understand how it would drive price inflation at the grocery store? Does it register with you at all that people who aren't spending their own money don't care how much things cost???