Walgreens and CVS have stopped accepting prescriptions covered by some insurance companies over the amount the insurers are willing to pay for medicines.
Consumers, of course, are caught in the middle of this test of wills.
Frank Ascione, dean of the University of Michigan's College of Pharmacy, told The Detroit News, "You're going to have these folks battling it out more and more as we get more chains and they get more and more power. It could be very detrimental."
The growing clout of major chains such as Walgreens and CVS has enabled these companies and other pharmacies to draw a line in the sand in dealing with insurers they deem unreasonable.
"Stores aren't required by law to take every insurance plan out there," said Michelle McKenna, spokesperson for the National Association of Chain Drugstores (NACDS). "It all comes down to a business decision."
The decision for many pharmacies is quite easy. The demands of a small number of insurance providers can not be met and turning away from their business is seen as the best course of action.
In a case involving Walgreens and Midwest Health Plan, the drugstore chain wanted at least $8.99 to fill each prescription. The company said a lower amount demanded by Midwest did not account for its full costs including filling and delivering prescriptions and other services such as 24-hour operations, drive-through windows and customized label printing in 14 separate languages.
Discussion Questions: Where do you see the relationship between pharmacies and third-party insurers going? What will this mean for how pharmacies conduct their business?