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Thursday, June 01, 2017

Walgreens gets sued for generic-drug overcharges

Giant drugstore chain Walgreens is under fire for allegedly overcharging consumers with health insurance for generic-drug prescriptions. Customers could wind up making co-payments that are three to four times higher than they would otherwise cost through a program offered by the company, which is part of Walgreen Boots Alliance (WBA).

According to a 28-page federal court filing by a California consumer on May 28, Walgreens allegedly violates legal prohibitions that forbid pharmacies from charging consumers a fee for their medicines that exceeds the "usual and customary" price. The retailer submitted claims to third-party providers for payment at "prices that Walgreens has knowingly and intentionally inflated," the filing said.

The "lynchpin" in the alleged scheme is Walgreens' Prescription Savings Club (PSC), a program that allows cash-paying customers to purchase 30- or 90-day supplies of 500 commonly prescribed generic drugs at discount prices ranging from $5 to $30, the suit said. Rivals such as Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Costco (COST) also offer deals on generic drugs, though they report their respective prices accurately to insurers.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I take certain prescriptions to walmart and claim I have no insurance and only pay $4.

Others that are tied to my insurance copay and not part of walmarts low $$ drugs, I can get anywhere for the same copay price.

I figured this out a long time ago.

Anonymous said...

7:16 is correct! I was paying more with CareFirst insurance copay then the pharmacist at Pocomoke Wal-Mart told me about this trick. All my prescriptions are available as generic and I pay $10 for a ninety day supply of each.