'I'm saving a lot': Customer uses Kansas City area pharmacy's 'cost-plus model'

KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers issues surrounding health care costs. This story came from a tip she received from a viewer. If you have a story idea, share it with Elyse by sending her an e-mail .

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The high cost of prescription drugs is something we all complain about. According to the KFF, U.S. prescription drug prices are up to two to four times as high compared to other countries.

Price is a pain point for many patients everywhere, like John Hudson, who takes ten different medications per day. That's why he fills his prescriptions at Pharmington Drugs in Overland Park.

"I'm saving a lot of money - $2,500 to $3,000 a year, just on two medicines," he said.

Elyse Schoenig/KSHB

Nicholas Romo is the pharmacist-in-charge . He used to work at a big name pharmacy.

"No one should ever have to go without medication because they can't afford it," Romo said.

Most pharmacy chains charge a price set by the drug companies. In many cases, that's covered by insurance.

"At the pharmacy, what they're billing insurance or what they're even charging patients for cash price was hundreds of times more than what they're paying," Romo said.

Elyse Schoenig/KSHB

Romo charges his customers based on what he pays for the pills, plus a 20% markup. These cover generic drugs only. There's no insurance, and customers pay out of pocket. But the cost is often less than the copay would be at the big drugstore.

"It works really well for generic medications, brand name medications not so much," Sarah Oprinovich, UMKC Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration clinical associate professor, said.

She said prescription costs need more transparency. But Pharmington Drugs is not some big chain. It's a small business trying to make a reasonable profit.

Elyse Schoenig/KSHB

"Medications are actually, they're actually super cheap. We just don't know that because we're not told that," Romo said.

So patients like Hudson will keep filling his prescriptions here, as he addresses otherwise painful prices.

"I had no idea that it could be so expensive," Hudson said.

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