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A comment on Sputtering Startups Weigh on U.S. Economic Growth. Parent comment

Re:Sputtering Startups Weigh on U.S. Economic Growth by PaulHoule on Monday October 24, 2016 @11:19AM (#12779560)
It's also an issue for meds.

There are plenty of generic meds that cost less than $10 with the discount negotiated by the insurance company but cost upwards of $100 if you don't get the discount.

The calculation that "you get nothing with a high deductable plan" is not entirely accurate if you take these into account.

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Re:Sputtering Startups Weigh on U.S. Economic Growth by maxerickson on Monday October 24, 2016 @11:29AM (#12779659)
There are free pharmacy benefit managers that will get you similar negotiated discounts. There are also store programs like Walmart's $4 drugs https://www.walmart.com/cp/1078664 .

(that's what lots of drug discount cards are, you get a negotiated price instead of the cash price)

So having a PBM price is an included detail of insurance plans, I'm not sure how useful it is (I expect the formulary used by cheap insurance ends up similar to the free stuff).

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