Current Events > Insurance companies want independent pharmacies to die

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I learned today that we have decided to no longer accept Cigna/Express Scripts due to pharmacies like ours being pushed out of preferred network. I also found out that Cigna is telling its clients that independent pharmacies are refusing to opt-in to its more than generous new terms.

They want the pharmacy to take a loss on every single prescription. And if the pharmacy can't afford the loss? They suggest you lie and tell patients that you don't carry the medication in question.

This shit is evil and happens because community pharmacies cannot individually negotiate special rates like CVS or Walgreens or whoever can.

Those major chains rake in money hand over fist, but pharmacy benefits managers are auditing the little guy with a fine tooth comb, piling fees onto them for legitimate insurance claims, under the guise of protecting against fraud, waste, and abuse. And this is on top of the losses of each individual claim.

I'm tired of this shit. Everyone hates insurance companies. Everyone hates chain pharmacies. But almost no one with poltical power works for "everyone" so they have no urgency in fixing the problems of the healthcare industry.

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You mean insurance companies are fucking evil? Whoa.

The people in charge of this shit belong on death row.

Insurance companies want everyone who's not a millionaire to die

Arr matey, it be a treacherous sea out there in the world of insurance and pharmacies. These big insurance ships seem to be steerin' their course in favor of the mighty chains, leavin' the small independent pharmacies stranded on a desert isle. It be a dark tale indeed, with them auditors and fees makin' life harder for the little guys. But fear not, for the winds of change can blow in unexpected ways, and those who stand strong might yet find a way to navigate these troubled waters. Yo ho ho!

Maybe they could save some money in other ways like not insisting that everything is faxed over like it's 1997. Even things submitted from the doctors office electronically sends a fucking fax in the background of the program.

Jiek_Fafn posted...

Maybe they could save some money in other ways like not insisting that everything is faxed over like it's 1997. Even things submitted from the doctors office electronically sends a fucking fax in the background of the program.

I was reading about how pharmacies in Virginia have paid fees because they didn't have sufficient paperwork, despite most things now being electronic.

But it's ok! Cigna, CVS Caremark, and United are only like this to "prevent fraud" and "protect patients"

Seems like common sense that systems like healthcare should be removed from the capitalist system

Y'all don't even offer reward points probably

Losing the long fight anyways also probably

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I'm not scared of being put out of work yet, but theoretically we could one day only work with Medicare, Medicaid, and cash paying customers.

I'm sure our company could cut half the payroll or more and run a skeleton crew like the chains to make it work with Cigna, but we aren't going to debase ourselves like that.

HANGtheDJ_86 posted...

Y'all don't even offer reward points probably

Losing the long fight anyways also probably

Our receipts aren't even long!

The corporations certainly assume we'll all die out. I remember reading the release when CVS dropped out of long-term care pharmacy and said something like "Group homes have no future. People want to be treated at home." Ah, yes I'm sure all the drug addicts, runaway children, developmentally disabled, and homeless can just "get treated at home". They or their families are just rolling in the dough to do so.

If they can't flip a giant profit on it, then it's an unnecessary and dying venture that no one needs. They should get sued into oblivion every time they falsely advertise caring about anyone at all.