Opelika discount drug card update

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: August 27, 2009

I linked you last week to a story in the Opelika-Auburn News about a new discount drug program in Opelika.

Today we have an update to that story, also from the News. It seems that local pharmacy owners aren’t too thrilled with the plan:

The city of Opelika will launch a prescription drug discount card on Saturday through the National League of Cities that could save non-insured residents up to 20 percent on their medication, but not everyone thinks it’s a good thing.

The cards, which will have the city of Opelika emblem, are administered by CVS/Caremark, the combination of the CVS drugstore/pharmacy chain and Caremark, a pharmacy benefit manager (a third party administrator of prescription drug programs). The two merged in 2007.

The cards offer discounts on prescription drugs, but the walk-off-the-street cost of prescriptions at some pharmacies could be lower without the use of the card. The pricing for the discount is based on usual and customary retail prices.

“The assumption being made is that all pharmacies other than CVS are over charging,” said Roger Burnett, owner of Thomas Pharmacy Inc., in Opelika. “We feel like our prices are probably as good as they are going to tell us to charge anyway.”

Read the rest here.