Getting access to affordable and potentially life-saving medications is an ongoing challenge in America, especially if you find yourself unemployed and uninsured. Cost Plus Drugs, a new online pharmacy, is aiming to shake up the pharmaceutical industry by charging a fraction of the price that large pharmacies charge. Billionaire Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and an investor on the hit television show Shark Tank, founded the company.
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Cuban, a walking billboard, said he’s fed up with lawmakers in Congress bickering over ways to lower costs.
“It’s just wrong that people have to choose between eating, their rent, and taking their medication or buying their medication,” Cuban said. “In the United States in 2022, it’s just wrong. It was obvious there was not going to be a political solution, and the attempts that are being discussed don’t get to the heart of the problem.”
The company offers over 800 generic drugs.
How does the company keep costs low?
For starters, the company negotiates directly with drug companies, cutting out middlemen like pharmacy representatives.
Cost Plus Drugs also does not accept insurance. According to their website, “Prices are less than what you would pay when using your insurance at a typical pharmacy.”
In addition, the company breaks down pricing from production to delivery, letting you know how much it marks up the drug, unlike traditional pharmacies.
Cuban said the company has only been shipping for less than a year and has already exceeded its two-year expectations.
In the coming months, the company plans to add name brand drugs to its inventory, but the biggest challenge has been getting Big Pharma to sell directly to them.