Giant Eagle is joining the Mark Cuban-backed Cost Plus Drugs network, an effort aimed at reducing drug prices for pharmacy customers. Giant Eagle Pharmacy locations will soon accept Cost Plus’ pharmacy benefit card, according to a statement issued by the company Tuesday.
The “Team Cuban Card” functions as a benefit card that grants customers access to discounted prescription drugs at affiliated pharmacies. It does not cost anything to sign up or use the card. Members can use the card to access discounts on specific medications.
The card does not replace insurance and cannot be combined with other discount cards or insurance prescription benefits.
Cuban, a Mt. Lebanon native, is expected to join Giant Eagle CEO Bill Artman at a press conference in Robinson Township Wednesday to discuss the new partnership.
Cost Plus Drugs is a Dallas-based company founded in 2022 with a stated goal to lower the prices of generic drugs offering a range of pharmaceuticals with prices direct to consumer by cutting out pharmacy benefit managers.
Cuban has been critical of the role of pharmacy benefit managers — the so-called middlemen between pharmacies, drug manufacturers, wholesalers and health insurance companies — and has cited PBMs as a primary driver of high drug costs. PBMs control more than 90% of the U.S. prescription drug market, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Cost Plus Drugs directly negotiates with drug manufacturers to sell generic prescriptions at a markup and flat fee, while PBMs negotiate complex pricing and rebate structures between manufacturers, pharmacies and health insurance plans.
According to Cost Plus Drugs, participating pharmacies such as Giant Eagle will receive a baseline fee of $12 per prescription as well as $14 for medications requiring cold storage or those subject to complex distribution regulations.
Still, some experts argue pharmacy benefit managers are just one of several reasons for high drug prices in America, and point to other issues such as branded drugs driving up costs. Cost Plus Drugs deals solely in generic drugs, which account for 91% of all prescriptions in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Giant Eagle’s partnership with Cuban is the latest development for the supermarket chain’s pharmacy endeavor. In June, the company — based in Cranberry Township — purchased prescriptions from nearly 80 Rite Aid locations across Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Rite Aid closed dozens of stores this year amid a second bankruptcy filing for the Philadelphia-based drugstore chain.
The acquisition of new pharmacy customers has not been seamless for Giant Eagle, something the company has acknowledged. Longer wait times, lines and prescription bags stacked high have been commonplace at multiple Giant Eagle Pharmacy locations this summer.
A Giant Eagle spokesperson told WTAE that a lack of adequate staff and the need for physical remodeling at some locations have contributed to the slow lines. Giant Eagle has hired nearly 200 former Rite Aid employees this summer, all of whom must complete onboarding and training.