CVS overcharging customers with insurance for prescription drugs, federal lawsuit says



Already facing a class action over the price of generic drugs in San Francisco federal court, retail pharmacy giant CVS has again become the target of a similar complaint in federal court in Chicago.

Robert Podgorny and Kevin P. Cauley are accusing the Rhode Island-based pharmacy chain of consumer fraud. They seek certification as a class, a jury trial, damages and injunctive relief.

The complaint, filed Sept. 17, pinpoints the issue to November 2008, when CVS created its Health Savings Pass program. CVS designed the HSP program, which discounts some 400 generic prescription drugs for uninsured customers who pay cash, to help it weather competition from larger retailers with in-house pharmacies, such as Wal-Mart and Target.

According to the complaint, those prices should have constituted CVS’ “usual and customary price, a figure used in the claim and copay calculation process for customers who have third-party prescription drug coverage. For customers with insurance, the amount of the copay is not to exceed the “usual and customary” price.

However, when submitting claims for insured customers who are buying generic prescription drugs, the complaint alleges, “CVS submits knowingly and intentionally falsely inflated ‘usual and customary prices’ to third-party health plans and overcharges customers paying for generic prescription drugs with insurance and a copay.”

The allegations are similar to those levied in the San Francisco complaint filed at the end of June, which Bloomberg reported is based on the belief customers who buy prescriptions through third-party plans pay higher prices than those paying cash.

CVS offers the HSP price as the cash price to nonmembers, and it’s the most common price paid by customers using cash. Yet CVS continues to submit to insurance companies the full retail price as “usual and customary.” This continues, the complaint alleges, because both the third-party insurers and the insured customers, “are not privy to what prices CVS charges its uninsured cash customers, including its HSP customers, and what percentage of CVS’ cash customers pay each price.”

Since 2008, CVS has taken in more than $46 billion in copays from insured customers.

Podgorny, of Illinois, and Cauley, of Pennsylvania, each had private insurance and purchased from CVS generic prescription drugs that — were they HSP members — would have cost them $11.99 for each 90-day supply, starting in 2011. Yet during 2014 and 2015, Podgorny paid $22.08 for a 90-day supply of one drug and $17.11 for the other. Cauley paid $43.75 in copays for one-month supplies of his prescription.

The complaint seeks national class and state subclass designations, all open to people who purchased generic prescription drugs from CVS through private insurance as far back as November 2008. The classes are believed to involve millions of CVS customers.

“The 400 or so generic prescription drugs included in the HSP program are among some of the most commonly prescribed generic drugs” for a wide range of conditions, the plaintiffs said in their complaint.

The formal allegations are violations of the Rhode Island Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, and three counts each of fraud, constructive fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys include Clinton A. Krislov and Christopher M. Hack, of Krislov & Associates, of Chicago, and Elizabeth C. Pritzker, Jonathan K. Levine and Shiho Yamamoto, of Prtizker Levine, of Oakland.

http://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/510638854-cvs-overcharging-cust...

Views: 500

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Less Prone favorited cheeki kea's photo
19 hours ago
Doc Vega's 9 blog posts were featured
22 hours ago
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post Modern Day Cannibalism?
"You may be consuming human tissue unknowingly in vaccines, food or drink. One of the cruellest…"
22 hours ago
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post Modern Day Cannibalism?
22 hours ago
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post Death Threats for Assisting ICE?
22 hours ago
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post Death Threats for Assisting ICE?
"Democrats pretend to be icons of democracy, but what kind of rule do they have in mind? When they…"
22 hours ago
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post GROK Acknowledges the Co-existence of Humans and Dinosaurs
yesterday
omegamann posted photos
yesterday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post GROK Acknowledges the Co-existence of Humans and Dinosaurs
yesterday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post GROK Acknowledges the Co-existence of Humans and Dinosaurs
"I got some "proof" for you. An early prehistoric cave painting documented on a runestone."
yesterday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post In the Political Realm They've Gone One Step Too Far!
yesterday
Less Prone commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

All In The Family | Mike Meets Archie For The First Time | The Norman Lear Effect

"Television programs have come down a lot in quality since those days. "
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

In the Political Realm They've Gone One Step Too Far!

I'm Your Host here on a completely new program. We call it One Step Too Far! Join us now for some…See More
yesterday
Doc Vega posted photos
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

All In The Family | Mike Meets Archie For The First Time | The Norman Lear Effect

"Wow almost as brainless as entitled as the college dolts who argued with Charlie Kirk before his…"
yesterday
Less Prone commented on Burbia's video
yesterday
Less Prone favorited Burbia's video
yesterday
Less Prone posted a video

America Copied Germany’s Jerry Can — But Missed The One Genius Detail that Made All the Difference

America Copied Germany’s WWII Jerry Can — But Missed The One Genuis Detail that Made All the DifferenceIn World War II, Allied armies were losing up to half ...
yesterday
Less Prone favorited Burbia's photo
Monday
Burbia posted a photo
Sunday

© 2026   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted