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I NEVER SAW THE NEED to buy prescriptions from anywhere other than the local pharmacy until—for reasons that still aren’t clear—a medication I’ve been taking for years jumped in price.
Until January, I’d been paying $8.86 a month for the medication through my Humana Medicare Advantage plan. Suddenly, it jumped 200% to $26.85. In a series of calls, Humana agents gave me the following varied reasons:
I decided to see how much the generic alternative would cost through Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company. I had to register online and provide a form to my doctor’s office. I’m now getting three months for just $40.26 plus shipping. I chose the faster shipping because I was worried my medication wouldn’t get here before I ran out of pills, which must be taken daily. Conventional shipping is just $5. Faster shipping is $15.
But even at $55.26, I’m saving money. Three months through Humana would have cost $80.55. I expect future refills will require only regular shipping for a total of $45.26 or $15.09 monthly—a savings of $35.29 a quarter or $141.16 a year. I received a $6 discount for ordering three months’ worth at a time, which also saves on shipping charges compared to buying every month.
Cuban’s start-up eliminates “pharmacy benefit managers” and negotiates directly with the manufacturers. While Cost Plus works with some insurance plans, mine isn’t one of them. Consumer advocate Clark Howard said this about Cost Plus: “There’s a lot of dirty dealing that goes on from those pharmacy benefits managers that handle those prescription plans…. Mark Cuban is trying to make drugs clearer, simpler and cheaper to buy.”
The company has grown to two million customers since its 2021 launch and now offers more than 1,000 prescriptions. All have been generic drugs until this past March, when the firm offered its first brand-name medication, a drug for hypothyroidism.
This was my first time ordering drugs from somewhere other than CVS or a similar pharmacy. I was a bit wary—but I took comfort from Cuban’s name credibility.
I have Part D with Wellcare which has a reasonable premium of about $11/month. I get two of my prescriptions through their preferred pharmacy CVS for zero co-pay. I have been getting my other prescriptions (non-insurance) from Cost Plus which has a lower cost than CVS’ co-pay even with handling and shipping added.
The service and responsiveness from Cost Plus has been excellent. The only disappointment is that I just received notice from Cost Plus that the handling fee is going up by $2 which will narrow their price advantage.
I find GoodRx cumbersome to use. They have a premium and regular level pricing. Premium level pricing is not accessible without monthly membership. The only time I check them is if it is a one time prescription.
My local news had story about Scriptco pharmacy in Waco that sells medications at wholesale prices. The two drugs I take: Amlodipine for .30 for 30 day supply and Rosuvastatin .70 for 30 day supply. Sounds great. But they have a membership fee, so this website would only be good for people that have very costly drugs.
Humana. This is my first (and last) year with Humana. They have barraged me with sales pitches for their Mail-to-home drug plan. I was completely surprised that you didn’t get a pitch for their plan when you called about pricing. Or you decided not to mention it.
I have to wonder about big price jumps through a company that offers a competing service.
I use good RX at our local ShopRite and it is amazing, but it’s so bizarre to have to pay for medicare part D and then not use it. There must be a better way. Our medical system is so broken.
It may be your particular plan . My husband I have a lot of prescriptions, both brand name and generic- Good RX is a lot more expensive for us than our plan copays , and we don’t have a deductible. But you are right- people should not pay more by using the drug plan they paid for .
The tier is determined by the plan, so your argument is with Humana. The 200% increase was pocketed by Humana. In my experience managing benefit plans for large companies, Humana seemed less concerned with the patient than profitability.
Everything you say is true and helpful. But you should be glad that you are only talking about tens of dollars a month. I take multiple meds which together cost thousands without insurance and hundreds even with insurance.
I love the podcast an arm and a leg about American healthcare
Ah, the wonderful world of American health care. You might want to read “The Price We Pay” to find out why it is so ridiculously and arbitrarily expensive. “An American Sickness” is worth reading, too.
I am another fan of GoodRx, and of Costco. You do not need to be a member to use Costco’s pharmacy – just tell the person at the door you are going to the pharmacy. I am not keen on mail order, it gets very hot in NC in the summer, and I don’t want my meds sitting around on a delivery truck.
Presumably the price changed in January because your drug plan changed in January, which is standard practice and why you need to compare plans during open enrollment.
The drug plan determines the tier and formulary, not the manufacturer, so they were giving you a line.
Weren’t you using a generic all along?
I found that before meeting a deductible and sometimes after depending on coinsurance, you can do better using something like GoodRx instead of your drug plan.
Clark Howard had Mark Cuban on his podcast a little over a year ago to talk about his Cost Plus Drugs venture.
Some other ways to save on medications:
GoodRX – an app that shows you the cheapest pharmacy near you for a particular drug and will give you a coupon to save at almost any pharmacy. There are other competitors like WellRx, SingleCare, etc.
Costco or Sam’s Club – The warehouse clubs often are the cheapest places to get medications.
Amazon’s RxPass – For Prime members – $5/month to access a bunch of prescription drugs. (Smaller selection than Cost Plus Drugs though.)
Cost Plus Drugs – As mentioned above.