Amid growing anger over the cost of medicines, a new analysis finds that Medicare could have saved billions of dollars if the federal agency had purchased generic drugs directly from the online pharmacy recently launched by billionaire investor Mark Cuban.
Specifically, Medicare could have saved up to $3.6 billion in 2020 — or 37% of the $9.6 billion spent on 77 of 89 different prescription medicines. This assumed the health care program had purchased the maximum quantity for each prescription, or a 90-day supply. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company did not offer any savings on the other 12 generic medicines.
If a 30-day supply had been purchased instead, Medicare would have saved $1.7 billion on 42 of the 89 drugs. In both instances, the savings were calculated after factoring in various costs, including shipping and the profit margin taken by the Cuban company, according to the analysis, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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