Doubt it's the place--the drug just got cheaper. My throid med is different almost every time I go. Could be you got generic this time too.

Pharmacies can negotiate costs for prescription medications they stock, so you may have prescriptions that differ in price from one pharmacy to another and from one plan to another. - even in the same city.

The pharmacy we'd used more than 40 years, small privately owned where the pharmacist knew more about us than our doctors, closed about a year ago. Somehow RiteAid had acquired the rights to all their prescriptions, but I've seen the lines of waiting people in RiteAid and didn't want to go to a chain after personal attention all those years (where the same man had filled every order either of us had ever taken 😊)

Neither one of us take anything expensive, and I chose to go to another small privately owned pharmacy, had our things transferred there. I rec'd a very awkward phone call from one of the RiteAid pharmacists, asking why they weren't going to have our business. I could only answer him honestly, I didn't want to join a 'herd'.

Not only do I not understand the varying co pays I also don't understand why trying to get a prescription filled at Rite Aid is a life sentence in a line waiting.

Are some people assuming there's one central, overarching agency overseeing all drug pricing across the country? It's the same for just about every aspect of healthcare in the USA.

" I also don't understand why trying to get a prescription filled at Rite Aid is a life sentence in a line waiting"

Most of the chain pharmacies will deliver or ship prescriptions to your home. Pharmacy benefit administrators (mine is ExpressScripts) operate mail order pharmacies as an alternative to using a retail location. Fine for medications taken on a regular basis, not for something ordered from a doctor visit needing a quick fill. For those, I like drive-up windows. There's rarely much of a wait.

" Not only do I not understand the varying co pays "

I had an interesting experience at a Walgreens a few months ago, for a topical antiibiotic. When ringing up the charge, the pharmacist said "You know what, it's cheaper if I run it through GoodRx. Is that okay with you?"

I remarked recently that my last four prescribed medications had been filled without using my prescription insurance because I could get them cheaper without. That’s not right.

"...my last four prescribed medications had been filled without using my prescription insurance because I could get them cheaper without. That’s not right."

No, it's not...

I don't follow. To my knowledge, prescription insurance plans don't, directly or indirectly, suggest they're always the cheapest price option. Why would you expect that?

Co-pay amounts vary from policy, if that's what's at issue. What you're "insuring" is against having to pay the mega-retail price for those without insurance.

I know within each plan that I've had, there are "preferred" pharmacy networks. For some companies, it's CVS for others it's Walgreens for example. For most of my drugs, there is no difference as they are generic but for one of the drugs, there is a difference . I use the preferred pharmacy.

When I was comparing the various plans for next year Medicare, that's where I saw the difference in pricing. It was pretty minimal as over the course of a year, the difference is $50 but it highlighted the different pricing.

"Could be you got generic this time too."

Nope, was the name brand. I have an employer-sponsored plan, not on Medicare yet, so I don't have any choice as to the Rx coverage. I'm not complaining AT ALL about my coverage, I am fortunate to have excellent insurance. I'm just curious why such a difference in co-pay between dispensers.

RiteAiid is now part of Wagreens. I've never seen a long line at a chain drug store in my area. 'could be because there are so many arund. I can think of 5 CVS's within a five mile radius, three of which are within teo miles.

I don't actually use Rite aid but a couple of times in my life I had a prescription that was a one off and to save the trip to the other side of the valley I tried filling it at the Rite Aid near the then doctor. I couldn't figure out how they could take hours to fill a basic antibiotic. We used Rite aid to get Covid boosters once and It was like being served by bozos. At least the person giving the shot seemed to have brains when he finally showed up. How do they stay in business? Certainly no one was filling a prescription the entire time we waited.

Here's the Rite-Aid/Walgreens story.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/nonfood-pharmacy/walgreens-reaches-1925m-settlement-rite-aid-investors

" In 2015, Walgreens attempted to buy out Rite Aid, in what would have been a $17.2 billion deal. The deal fell through at the time — Walgreens canceled the merger in June 2017 after the Federal Trade Commission refused to approve it, and as a Plan B bought about 42% of Rite Aid’s store network for $4.38 billion. "

And Rite-Aid has other problems and is closing stores right and left.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwih8aKO7YKDAxWDCnkGHRMEAZwQFnoECEQQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fbusiness%2Fconsumer%2Frite-aid-bankruptcy-means-pharmacies-will-keep-dwindling-rcna120637&usg=AOvVaw1vZpFy9KaFRplTjkdt9k-a&opi=89978449

"

Rite Aid's bankruptcy filing wasn't a surprise, because the 60-year-old chain has been in dire financial shape for a long time. It has lost money in each of its last six fiscal years, it had already been closing stores to cut spending, and it was looking at a $1 billion charge related to its role in the opioid crisis.Oct 16, 2023"

" RiteAiid is now part of Wagreens. "

Not true. Perhaps Walgreens acquired certain locations but the two companies remain unaffiliated.

The lawsuit settlement discussed in the above link has to do with Walgreens conduct some 8 years ago for which it was sued.

a personal friend who is a pharmacist worked for RiteAide and the store was bought by Walgreens. At least two other Rite Aides in my area were taken over by Walgreens its possible they just took over the lease .

Ask for the GoodRx discount. It works even with insurance. Sometimes it helps.

Is anyone else aware of Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs initiative and website? It seems he's addressing the discrepancies being discussed here...

https://costplusdrugs.com/

Is Cost Plus a for-profit or non-profit operation?

In the absence of a response, I tried to answer the question myself. Cost Plus Drugs is not a charity and is not a non-profit organization, It is a Public Benefit Corporation which, other than perhaps for some finding a feel good factor to that, is little different from a regular corporation. It has shareholders (exempt orgs and charities don't), it's allowed to have activities that produce profits and it pays tax on the profits (exempts and charities don't). They are also allowed to pay dividends from retained earnings to shareholders (exempts and shareholders can't and don't).

Put another way, it appears Cuban found an income making opportunity and chose a vehicle of a type that people will confuse, thinking it has a strictly eleemosynary charter from which he will not benefit. Which is not the case.

Of course insurance companies are much more altruistic....

Let's compare what's known about Cuban's new venture to drug insurance companies. Cuban had an idea and had the opportunity to establish and operate a charitable, non-profit corporation for the public's benefit. But he didn't choose that approach. Instead, he set up a for-profit corporation that he presumably owns most of and will personally gain from if it's successful. Via dividend income and, ultimately, selling his stock for a gain.

So what's the difference between Cost Plus Drugs and profit seeking insurance companies? Fundamentally, there's no difference at all.

Does that mean the much lower prices don't matter?

Well, I think your comment wasn't well informed, when you said

" Is anyone else aware of Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs initiative and website? It seems he's addressing the discrepancies being discussed here "

Knowing that Cost Plus is very much a for profit business benefitting Cuban personally, it might be more accurate to say:

Is anyone aware that Cuban has identified a new business with which he plans to add to his billions? There's so much profit in the drug business that even with generics, he can take a small cut of the money that flows and make a fortune. He's doing this with a corporate entity that on its website is ambiguously described. Rather than being a non-profit charity as is indirectly suggested, it is in fact a for-profit corporation that he owns most of.