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We Dropped Insurance
Why we did it and how it affects our patients and our business
If you haven't received a prescription from us recently you may not be aware that we no longer bill insurance. This is a major change, but it may not affect costs the way you think. In a normal world, using insurance would reduce the cost of medication at the checkout. Unfortunately, the pharmacy world is not normal. In the pharmacy world, insurance companies make up the prices as they go. One day you may get your prescription with an $8.49 copay, the next it's $57.84. What changed? Why did the insurance company make such a dramatic change in coverage with no communication to the patient or the pharmacy? The answer is that we have no idea and the insurance companies don't want us to know. It's literally "proprietary information." They won't even tell us what goes into their decision making. It makes getting a prescription feel like playing a slot machine in a casino. Pull the lever and find out if you were lucky today.
How much will prescriptions cost now?
The effect this change has on you will depend on your specific medication and insurance plan. Generally speaking, generic medications will be highly affordable, and if they are 90-day quantities you will almost certainly be saving money. In order to help our patients know what their specific costs will be, we have added a price checker tool. It's not perfect yet (creams, liquids etc. aren't accurate), but it will give the information necessary to make an informed decision about your medication. Informed decisions are not possible with insurance.
What about service?
Many people don't realize that in order to be allowed to bill insurance for prescriptions, pharmacies have to sign contracts with the insurance companies. These contracts come with a handbook of rules detailing how we're allowed to operate. Those rules include restrictions on prices, purchasing, delivery, shipping, services and advertising. They even restrict us from telling our patients if the insurance is the cause of their problems. Have you ever had a common medication suddenly be "out of stock" at your regular pharmacy? That's insurance speak for "We can't fill that because the insurance isn't paying for it." In other words, they severely limit our ability to offer competitive prices and services, and they restrict us from telling you about it. Why would these companies want to limit our ability to provide the highest quality service and the best prices to you? Surprisingly, insurance companies consider us a competitor rather than a partner in your care. They limit us in order to push patients to their in-house mail order pharmacies.
Without these barriers and anti-competitive restrictions, we have been able to add some much needed services. We can now offer fair and transparent prices, 90-day quantities for prescriptions, shipping anywhere in Texas and convenient access to licensed physicians for easy telehealth consultations.
Now What?
We are excited about the new direction of our pharmacy. We can now offer fair and transparent prices, with fast and convenient service. If our prices and service work for you, become a patient now or if you're already with us, sit back and enjoy the improvements. We hope to see you soon!