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Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

beckershospitalreview.com

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Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#41

Post by dahdum »

dopylitty wrote: post #23
moralestapia wrote: post #6

"I could make a fortune from this," Mr. Cuban told Texas Monthly last fall. "But I won't. I've got enough money. I'd rather f— up the drug industry in every way possible." Truly hope that's an honest statement, wish them the best if that's the case.

Even if it’s an honest statement, what happens when Cuban dies or otherwise no longer controls the business? Inevitably someone will take control and raise prices to match the rest of the industry. The root problem is having for profit companies involved in providing critical medical treatments. The solution is for people to band together and create an entity (the government) to provide these treatments at cost witho…

That’s why they formed as a public benefit corporation, it makes it more difficult to pivot towards pure profit seeking.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#42

Post by PragmaticPulp »

elliottinvent wrote: post #39
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

I’m from the UK > Except nobody should actually be paying $22.80 for generic Prozac. You can drive to any local Walmart and get it for $4 and they will bill your insurance, which will count toward your deductible. FWIW I thought this meant that it was $4 because of “your insurance” or “deductible” but I think you meant it’s $4 for people that aren’t insured? And people that are insured get it for free?

> FWIW I thought this meant that it was $4 because of “your insurance” or “deductible” but I think you meant it’s $4 for people that aren’t insured? And people that are insured get it for free?

No, it's $4 retail at Walmart. $10 for a 3-month supply.

People with insurance might also pay the $4 if they haven't reached their insurance deductible (same concept as car/home insurance deductible).

Insured people still pay some co-insurance, up until their out-of-pocket maximum.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#43

Post by treis »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

The amazing thing is that he's telling everyone exactly what he's doing. He wants to extract 15% as a middleman in an industry that transacts 100+ billion a year. All for running a simple website and taking on a tiny bit of transaction risk. And people think it's a charity instead of business worth billions.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#44

Post by Dylan16807 »

refurb wrote: post #20
jimt1234 wrote: post #13

I worked for a PBM back in the 90s. The company, and the whole industry, was/is shady AF. I remember once when I was volun-told to work for new program that handled "rebates". They needed a nerd to support the servers/databases. There was a presentation explaining the program and how it worked. At the conclusion, I asked, "So, this is a kick-back?", and the room went silent. "No, it's not a kick-back. It's a rebate."…

If I got my grocery store and they say “buy 5 bottles of shampoo and mail your receipt for a $5 rebate” am I getting a “kick back”? PBM rebates are not illegal. They aren’t transparent to patients (which is a problem) but they aren’t illegal.

If the end customer gets the money then it's not a kickback.

If a middleman gets the money it's probably a kickback.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#45

Post by bmarquez »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

> Mark Cuban's pharmacy, however, refuses to deal with your insurance

I don't see a problem with this. Some insurance plans are can be hard to deal with. My personal experiences involve requiring step therapy (trying a cheaper, possibly less effective drug) before approving the prescription. Another experience is that a drug may only be covered for one condition but not for another (e.g. finasteride for hair loss vs finasteride for enlarged prostate).

If Cuban wants to avoid the headache of dealing with formulary lists, I don't blame him. Obviously consumers should compare prices whenever possible, but if the difference is only a few dollars I'd probably rather pay Cuban directly than deal with the Walmart retail experience.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#46

Post by thematrixturtle »

indymike wrote: post #22
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

> Except nobody should actually be paying $22.80 for generic Prozac. You can drive to any local Walmart and get it for $4 and they will bill your insurance, which will count toward your deductible. Except people can, and do, all the time. Source: they lady in front of me at the pharmacy counter today, who didn't want any "risky generics".

I also used to think only idiots rejected generics. Then the Ranbaxy scandal happened.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/the-scary-truth-behin...

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#47

Post by PragmaticPulp »

bmarquez wrote: post #45
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

> Mark Cuban's pharmacy, however, refuses to deal with your insurance I don't see a problem with this. Some insurance plans are can be hard to deal with. My personal experiences involve requiring step therapy (trying a cheaper, possibly less effective drug) before approving the prescription. Another experience is that a drug may only be covered for one condition but not for another (e.g. finasteride for hair loss vs…

> My personal experiences involve requiring step therapy (trying a cheaper, possibly less effective drug) before approving the prescription.

FYI, Mark Cuban's pharmacy only deals in generic medications. Most of the "step therapy" programs exist to gate the non-generic medications, so you wouldn't be finding them at Mark Cuban's pharmacy anyway.

Also, you don't need insurance to use a traditional pharmacy. You should still cross-shop online regardless.

I think too many people have misinterpreted Mark Cuban's PR as having solved all of the problems with insurance, but it's really just another retailer of generic medications like countless others online.

They said they plan to do their own manufacturing in the future, but at the moment they're buying from the same wholesalers as all the other online discount pharmacies. They've just attached Mark Cuban's name to this one.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#48

Post by dannyphantom »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

I've been frustrated with the 'Mark Cuban Pharmacy' for weeks now as well. At the end of the day, it is a way to capitalize on a lucrative industry and as you've pointed out, doesn't always work out in such a way that consumers will be better off for solely going through this new pharmacy venture.

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#49

Post by pessimizer »

waffle_maniac wrote: post #34
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

Is the pharmacy cheaper than AllDayChemist (including shipping)? Doesn’t look like it. I guess the wait time and complexity of ADC might not make sense for those without insurance.

I bet they're easier to sue than AllDayChemist (not that I've ever had a problem with AllDayChemist.)

Re: Mark Cuban's pharmacy started with a cold email

#50

Post by PragmaticPulp »

gruez wrote: post #32
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #7

On one hand, we should obviously applaud anyone doing anything to bring down drug prices. On the other hand, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with just how much free marketing and PR is being applied to the "Mark Cuban Pharmacy" without much critical examination of what's going on here. Taking one of the examples straight from their homepage: They will sell you 30 Prozac tablets for $3.90: https://costplusdrugs.com/med…

>Except nobody should actually be paying $22.80 for generic Prozac. You can drive to any local Walmart and get it for $4 and they will bill your insurance, which will count toward your deductible. (Walmart has a list of their $4 and other cheap prescriptions here: https://www.walmart.com/cp/4-prescriptions/1078664 ) Can you elaborate on how this works? Are they giving you 30 days' supply of drugs for only $4, even if…

> Can you elaborate on how this works? Are they giving you 30 days' supply of drugs for only $4, even if you have no insurance?

Yes, the 30-day supply of those drugs is literally just $4 whether or not you have insurance.

Many (but not all) generic drugs are actually super cheap to manufacture. Certain chemicals are basically pennies for a dose, and the production at scale is essentially automated away.

For the cheapest drugs, you're paying for the pharmacy to inventory it, dispense it, call your doctor if something goes wrong, and so on. Mark Cuban's pharmacy cuts costs by refusing to do any of the legwork with your doctor or insurance company. Your local neighborhood grocery store pharmacy doesn't mind doing it because they can sell you groceries while they fill it.

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