Our Prescriptions Don’t Cost the Same!!!

Our Prescriptions Don’t Cost the Same!!!

So last week I was in an employee open-enrollment meeting with a client that was renewing, and two guys flagged me down to “pull my ear” about a “situation” they needed answers on. Ok, no big deal, these guys seemed reasonable enough, so I sat down.

The first gentleman said, in a rather irritated tone, “I take the same prescription as he does (pointing at the other man seated to his right), same dose, same frequency…everything is the same. But HE pays $70 a month, and I’m paying $100 a month! This insurance is crap!”

Those were his words. So I asked the man, “Where do you get your prescription?” He replied, “Walmart.” I asked the second man, “Well, where do you get your’s?”…”Walgreens”, he replied.

They simply didn’t realize that their PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Manager) did not have the same contractual agreements on price with every single pharmacy. Walmart’s price was $70, while Walgreens contracted price was $100, a pretty major difference. The two gentlemen scratched their heads for a moment, and finally it made sense to them.

But just out of curiosity, I pulled up GoodRX to see what the cash pay price would be at the cheapest pharmacy…..

$32.00 with a GoodRX coupon. Both men were overpaying!!!

I swung my laptop around to show the two gentlemen the pricing variance from one pharmacy to the next. When it was all said and done, they just turned and looked at one another……

“Show us how to get that app, son”……..

GoodRX isn’t the only solution. There are many other ways to reduce heathcare costs that employers are not leveraging. Time to change that…..

Josh Butler

Josh is the President of Butler Benefits & Consulting. Passionate about healthcare reform and helping employers save money while improving the quality of employee benefits.

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