How Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company Keeps Pharmacy Costs Low: Drug Price Transparency

The pharmaceutical industry is riddled with unnecessary middlemen and unethical pricing games. Regarding health care, we believe that no one should have to stress over the cost of life-saving prescription medications. By partnering with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCP), we are now in the position to provide our customers with the best possible price.

How is this practiced in our industry? By activating drug price transparency and working with generic manufacturers, we need only a few price markups to continue our operations. Read on to understand exactly how Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company keeps pharmacy costs low.

Drug Price Transparency

Transparency isn’t just a trending word for us—we’ve taken the steps to become the most ethical pharmacy benefit manager that puts our member’s health first. Thanks to MCCP, we are able to offer AffirmedRx Plus, a product dedicated to transparency for self-funded employers.

Manufacturing Costs

When it comes to producing generic prescriptions, the actual cost of production is affordable. Middlemen, like GPOs, heighten costs in traditional pharmaceutical companies. PBMs also charge incredulous prices to plans and patients for what should be inexpensive medications. AffirmedRx collaborates with MCCP directly and provides complete transparency into our pricing model through AffirmedRx Plus.

Price Markups

As with any business, MCCP needs to make a few additions to the manufacturing costs to keep operations running. The good thing is, you’ll never be surprised by these markups since they take drug price transparency very seriously.

The price negotiating team is compensated through a 15% markup on the manufacturing price. For the pharmacy teams, an additional $3.00 is tacked on to account for the cost to fill. Lastly, shipping costs are added in, which are dependent on each individual order, but are very reasonable.

With AffirmedRx Plus, we add a $3.00 flat fee on top of each prescription being filled, matching MCCP’s fee. All costs are disclosed within the employer’s contract.

In 2019, the average cost to fill a prescription was $12.40, yet the average consumer saw much higher markups. The largest companies in the world buy thousands more medications than MCCP, allowing them to get a better deal on the drug price—but those savings are not passed onto employers or members, but rather, to stakeholders.

The rise of companies like GoodRx proves how patients are reacting to rising costs and sinking transparency. 10% of all prescriptions in the U.S. are now filled through coupon sites like these, as PBMs are forcing patients to seek more affordable medications. This is due to the traditional PBM’s need to keep shareholders happy.

Both AffirmedRx and MCCP are Public Benefit Corporations, meaning we put the people/patients before our profit. By only charging a few dollars for labor and associated costs, we are saving our members hundreds in prescriptions.

Putting Health First

In the end, these agreeable fees are insignificant compared to what employers and their members pay with other pharmacy benefit managers. For example, a 30-count supply of 400mg Imatinib would be approximately $9,657.30 in a retail setting; we have even seen a PBM charging as much as $212K for this exact same medication. With AffirmedRx Plus, in partnership with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company, you can get it for a much more reasonable: $47.00 (including all fees and markup mentioned above)!

We hate to think that self-funded employers and their members are being taken advantage of when it comes to generic prescription costs. Patients on high deductible or coinsurance plans cannot afford the heightened prices, meaning they cannot improve their health. Our mission is to fix this pricing problem—to ensure transparency and create solutions that genuinely help Americans as opposed to the other PBMs that put their own profit over their patients.

To get the most out of your pharmacy benefit manager, including drug price transparency, talk to our team of professionals at AffirmedRx.