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Tell HN: Amazon Pharmacy 37% Cheaper Than CVS's Insured Price

5 points by nepalvibes ↗ HN
I just found out that Amazon Pharmacy's price WITHOUT insurance is 37% cheaper than what I pay at CVS WITH insurance! Pretty crazy pricing stuff going on here:

- CVS seems to be artificially jacking up their base prices just to make thier insurance "discounts" look better

- Even after my insurance knocked the price down, CVS is way more expensive than Amazon's regular price

- CVS wont even let you return meds. Their solution? "Just throw it in our medicine disposal bin"

This is probably affecting millions of Americans tbh. The whole thing - inflated prices, confusing insurance stuff, and zero returns - feels like its designed to squeeze money from us. Anyone else dealing with this at other big pharmacy chains? Would love to hear from someone in healthcare/pharmacy about how they justify this pricing. What other options have you guys found besides these traditional pharmacies?

5 comments

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toomuchtodo
Goodrx is helpful for price comparisons, I use independent pharmacies when able to. Costco (you don’t have to be a member to use them for prescriptions) and https://costplusdrugs.com/ might also be options. If your local grocer has a pharmacy, also check with them (Publix, Meijer, JewelOsco, etc).

Avoid CVS or Walgreens whenever possible. They’re failing systems.

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/nx-s1-5154129/cvs-and-walgree...

terminalbraid
Agreed on CVS and Walgreens. Walgreens in particular has developed the most incompetent and non-functional Rx platform. I still have orders in there that their pharmacy didn't/couldn't see to get filled or even have removed. I just get shrugged shoulders when I asked them. Just a total clownshow.

I'm sure some MBAs got some big bonuses, so who am I to say what's good or bad?

floxy
>CVS wont even let you return meds. Their solution? "Just throw it in our medicine disposal bin"

This seems like the desired solution, no? What alternative are we hoping for here?

nepalvibes
No - I had an unopened medication that I wanted to return just ONE day after purchase because I found it much cheaper elsewhere. This isn't about disposal - I simply wanted a standard refund for an unopened product, like any other retail purchase. Instead, CVS's only "solution" was to have me throw away a perfectly good medication.

The point isn't about medication disposal - it's about their no-refund policy even for sealed, unopened medications purchased days or even hours ago. How does this benefit anyone except CVS's bottom line?

floxy
You might know that it was stored properly, but the pharmacy doesn't know it wasn't kept in a parked car that got hotter than the medication can normally tolerate, degrading it. Or whatever. So the chain-of-custody so-to-speak was broken. Maybe for most medications it would be fine, but it seems sensible to not offer refunds. Wouldn't even be surprised if there were federal and state laws preventing the re-use of second-hand medications. Have you successfully tried returning medications elsewhere? Even for over the counter items like Tylenol, if a store does accept returns as a courtesy, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they just throw it away, rather than take the risk of putting the item back on the shelf.

https://carecard.com/blog/can-medicine-be-left-in-a-hot-car