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Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted
Piggybacking off my Claritin post, I was halfway to work yesterday and realized I needed to take one and didn't have any on me and I knew I'd pass a CVS. Stopped in there and started getting sticker shock at the prices of their OTC meds. Brand name Claritin for $49.99 and $39.99 a package. CVS brand for $29.99 and $19.99 a package. I finally found a small package of CVS brand 10 tablets for $9.99.

WTH? I can get a bottle of like 30 or 40 tablets on Amazon for $7-8 and I know I could get that in the grocery store for much less too.

How are they staying in business? Is it the pharmacy business? I know they own Aetna as that is my (very crappy) HDHP employer health plan is through. What is keeping these stores open with these ludicrous prices?

They are making it somehow and I'm not sure how.


 
Posts: 35529 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Rick Lee
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CVS would be dead to me except that the pharmacy at my local Fry's won't sell me Zyrtec D, says there's something wrong with my drivers license, which no one else has ever mentioned. Even went to Ralph's (same as Fry's or Kroger) in CA once, had the same issue, but they sold it to me after I showed my club card. CVS doesn't hassle me about that stuff, so when I really need it bad, I'll pay what they charge. Also, Fry's stopped taking CIGNA insurance and that's what I have now. So I go to CVS for scripts.
 
Posts: 3937 | Location: Cave Creek, AZ | Registered: October 24, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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CVS is the LAST stop of all the drugstore choices. Only going if desperate.
 
Posts: 1666 | Location: Lehigh County,PA-USA | Registered: February 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
Picture of HRK
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Because people figure out they need the stuff at the last minute and the prices at Y'all Mart, Target and CVS are similar.

If you have a Costco Membership, a single box of 15 tables, 24hr is $4.49.

Now the laws prohibit you from buying enough for a whole month, much less 90 days, so the secret is to get your Primary Care Physician to send a script to your pharmacy for 90 days of it. They can then sell you 90 days worth of Claritin D, I do this at Costco, and keep it active, that way you don't have to go back to CVS every two weeks.



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Posts: 25001 | Location: Gunshine State | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of nhracecraft
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quote:
Can Someone Explain To Me How CVS Stores Are Still In Business?

Yes, EBT Cards...


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Posts: 9853 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: October 29, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Partial dichotomy
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I bought Claritin once on Amazon several years ago and had a strong suspicion it was fake. Packaging did not look official. I'm not suggesting what you bought there wasn't, but I question my purchase then.




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Posts: 39695 | Location: SC Lowcountry/Cape Cod | Registered: November 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
Piggybacking off my Claritin post, I was halfway to work yesterday and realized I needed to take one and didn't have any on me and I knew I'd pass a CVS. Stopped in there and started getting sticker shock at the prices of their OTC meds. Brand name Claritin for $49.99 and $39.99 a package. CVS brand for $29.99 and $19.99 a package. I finally found a small package of CVS brand 10 tablets for $9.99.

WTH? I can get a bottle of like 30 or 40 tablets on Amazon for $7-8 and I know I could get that in the grocery store for much less too.

How are they staying in business? Is it the pharmacy business? I know they own Aetna as that is my (very crappy) HDHP employer health plan is through. What is keeping these stores open with these ludicrous prices?

They are making it somehow and I'm not sure how.


30 to 40 off brand OTC on Amazon maybe. I too suspect their pharmacy keeps them in business. Around me, they closed about half the locations in the past 8 months but they were everywhere. So they probably aren’t doing great. And many of their prescription drugs come from India and Asia.
 
Posts: 3978 | Location: UNK | Registered: October 04, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 6guns:
I bought Claritin once on Amazon several years ago and had a strong suspicion it was fake. Packaging did not look official. I'm not suggesting what you bought there wasn't, but I question my purchase then.


I think a lot of the generics from there come right from where they are manufactured and no middleman, in a lot of cases it's India.

I never buy the stuff that looks hinky. Most of what I get from Amazon is their own Amazon Basic Care line which so far has been good.


 
Posts: 35529 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
Picture of 12131
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quote:
Originally posted by TRIO:
CVS is the LAST stop of all the drugstore choices. Only going if desperate.

Yep, same with Walgreens. Stores around here never have more than 5 cars in the parking lot. If you see 5, that's busy for them. Typically, it's 2 or 3 cars.


Q






 
Posts: 28740 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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You need to keep up with healthcare mergers.
this week, the Justice Department blessed a $69 billion merger between pharmacy chain CVS and insurance giant Aetna. CVS also owns Caremark, one of the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which negotiate drug discounts on behalf of health plans. With another tie-up between a PBM and an insurance company—Express Scripts and Cigna—awaiting likely approval, this signals an almost formal merger between the PBM industry and the health-insurance industry.

lINK; https://prospect.org/economy/a...=This%20week%2C%20th
 
Posts: 17808 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
come and take it
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Apparently selling drugs at a huge markup is a good business. Yes, CVS is making it, #6 on the Fortune 500 list. Get mad and shop at Walgreens? Not much difference, they are #18. CVS $140 Billion in profit for 2023.

I will say I admire them for one thing, as a supposed health business they stopped selling cigarettes 5 years ago and surrendered $2 Billion a year in revenue.




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Posts: 2019 | Location: Texan north of the Red River | Registered: November 05, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Thank you
Very little
Picture of HRK
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
quote:
Originally posted by 6guns:
I bought Claritin once on Amazon several years ago and had a strong suspicion it was fake. Packaging did not look official. I'm not suggesting what you bought there wasn't, but I question my purchase then.


I think a lot of the generics from there come right from where they are manufactured and no middleman, in a lot of cases it's India.

I never buy the stuff that looks hinky. Most of what I get from Amazon is their own Amazon Basic Care line which so far has been good.


Possibly, but there are a lot of fakes on Amazon from Clothing, Electronics, Car Parts to Drugs.

Champion parts for example are heavily copied by the Chinese and fakes are sold all over Amazon, if you get a great price, you have to presume it's not the real deal.

Amazons in house stuff may be the real deal, but I'd be wary of getting stuff from others.
 
Posts: 25001 | Location: Gunshine State | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
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quote:
They are making it somehow and I'm not sure how.



Maybe it's because they sell your goods with a profit. Eek
Selling products at a loss or low margin that don't cover overhead is better? Confused
 
Posts: 23531 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
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Picture of PASig
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quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

You need to keep up with healthcare mergers.



Which is why I had this in my OP:

quote:
Originally posted by PASig:

I know they own Aetna as that is my (very crappy) HDHP employer health plan is through.



 
Posts: 35529 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Walgreens is the same deal.

Baffles me





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Posts: 55462 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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We used CVS for a while and the pharmacy dept. was a constant headache . When Walgreens became an option for us we couldn't change fast enough . Now that same CVS has gone to all self checkout so I don't stop there for anything .
 
Posts: 4502 | Location: Down in Louisiana . | Registered: February 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Pharmacist at a nearby CVS claims her store does more than $1 million in pharmacy sales alone every day. That's how they stay in business. That and high prices for everything else.
 
Posts: 1330 | Location: Gainesville, VA | Registered: February 27, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
Picture of egregore
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One up the street from me didn't stay in business, although I don't know the specific reason for its closing. It was vacant for ~9 months, then a new Dollar Tree opened in its place.
 
Posts: 29427 | Location: Johnson City, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
I know they own Aetna as that is my (very crappy) HDHP employer health plan is through.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, and as a consequence you must use CVS for your drugs.
BTW mail order is the cheapest.
 
Posts: 17808 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
quote:
I know they own Aetna as that is my (very crappy) HDHP employer health plan is through.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, and as a consequence you must use CVS for your drugs.


Not true at all

I use my local supermarket (Giant) pharmacy


 
Posts: 35529 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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