Have you ever stood in the pharmacy, shocked by the price of your medication? Well, this is the reality that many Americans face daily, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. In fact, medication price jumps have been happening for quite some time. Now, a California woman is calling out something she noticed when she scanned her insurance card at the pharmacy. She left, appalled, and wondering why it happened.
Zaza (@z0zozaza) shared a TikTok video titled, “The great American healthcare scam.” She shares that she recently experienced something at her local Walgreens that made her question everything about healthcare. Zaza asks, “What do you mean I scanned my insurance card at Walgreen’s and I watched the price of my medication double with insurance added.” She then asks, “Doubled?!”
This is incredibly concerning. There are individuals out here reporting that they’re paying more than what a medication is worth just because they have insurance. This is due to the fact that copays are sometimes artificially inflated, and pharmaceutical companies have the power to charge whatever they’d like for a drug. Because of these practices, patients sometimes find that their medications are not as affordable as they hoped.
One commenter pointed out that Zaza is right for calling it out. She shared that “Walgreens has a class action lawsuit about this.” As it turns out, she’s right. Walgreens was ordered to pay $100 million in a class-action lawsuit after inflating the prices of medications. They denied any wrongdoing, but the proof is out there in the receipts. In the lawsuit, insured customers ended up paying more for prescription drugs than those using Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. Insured customers found that their prescriptions were much higher than those of customers who used the savings benefits at Walgreens stores. It’s actually kind of scary that this stuff happens right under our noses and, sometimes, large corporations simply get away with it.
One commenter on Zaza’s video said they noticed this trend as well. They shared, “When I had insurance my meds rang up at like $140. I went cash pay and tell me why they’re only $34 for a THREE MONTHS SUPPLY?”
Another commenter pointed out, “It’s because you’re going to Walgreens. They’re a racket just like CVS. They’ve been caught price fixing multiple times.” It’s a shame that so many in California and across America have to deal with this just to receive life-saving medication.
