04/04/2018

What CVS is Doing to U.S. Mom-and-pop Pharmacies Will Make Your Blood Boil

Pharmacies are rallying lawmakers to put an end to the chain's buying habits

The short version of what happened to CVS in 2018 is this: The company got too greedy, and then it got caught.

In its greed, the company squeezed independent mom-and-pop pharmacies. The squeezing wasn't being done by the part of CVS you buy dental floss from or visit to pick up a prescription, though it's not unrelated. It's a behind-the-scenes business known as a pharmacy benefit manager, which manages payments between insurers and pharmacies and drug companies.

The mom-and-pop pharmacies say CVS' in-house pharmacy benefit manager, CVS Caremark, slashed reimbursements for medications sold to their patients on Medicaid. At the same time, they say, it was reimbursing CVS pharmacies at much better rates. With some of them on the verge of going out of business, these pharmacies have rallied lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — to put an end to this.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Business Insider.