Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: July 29th, 2019, 9:17 pm
Super S wrote: July 29th, 2019, 6:51 am I have been to a CVS store one time only when I was on a trip somewhere. It didn't really seem like anything special, good or bad, and prices were high but inline with Walgreens and Rite Aid.

I have to wonder though why they don't try a little harder on making stores presentable when you consider that they also run the pharmacies inside Target. If CVS is really as bad as everybody says they are, people would just migrate to the local Target for their prescriptions.

Portland is a market where, other than the pharmacies inside Target, CVS has no presence. Target, on the other hand, has a well-established presence. CVS is going to have to try a little harder in Portland. While Walgreens and Rite Aid both have a presence, they have been hit-or-miss and both have closed a few locations.
The initial list of Portland locations is pretty solid. While it's not a guarantee of success, most of these locations have few nearby competitors and with Portland trying to be more of a walking oriented city, they should do well. I actually thought they might enter the Portland market by buying the Rite Aid locations but most of the remaining Rite Aids aren't all that great and tend to be more suburban than urban.
CVS and Walgreens both seem to be pretty good at operating urban locations. Rite Aid is much better at operating suburban and rural locations and generally unsuccessful at operating urban locations based on what I have seen.

But front end is of little relevance to CVS. It is all about the pharmacy.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by BillyGr »

Super S wrote: July 29th, 2019, 6:51 am I have to wonder though why they don't try a little harder on making stores presentable when you consider that they also run the pharmacies inside Target. If CVS is really as bad as everybody says they are, people would just migrate to the local Target for their prescriptions.
I'd suspect some people like the free standing stores for the option of drive thru pickup (either when getting medicine due to a specific illness making you not feel like getting out and going in, or for those with family that are older/disabled being able to save the effort of getting them in & out of the vehicle).
Alpha8472 wrote: July 27th, 2019, 11:57 pm They think that people will drive far and wide to get the 90 day supply which cannot be gotten at other pharmacy chains or mail order.
Not sure on other chains, but our local supermarket pharmacy has no problem doing 90 day refills, so not sure why others would not want to do them.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by storewanderer »

BillyGr wrote: July 30th, 2019, 1:05 pm
Super S wrote: July 29th, 2019, 6:51 am I have to wonder though why they don't try a little harder on making stores presentable when you consider that they also run the pharmacies inside Target. If CVS is really as bad as everybody says they are, people would just migrate to the local Target for their prescriptions.
I'd suspect some people like the free standing stores for the option of drive thru pickup (either when getting medicine due to a specific illness making you not feel like getting out and going in, or for those with family that are older/disabled being able to save the effort of getting them in & out of the vehicle).
Alpha8472 wrote: July 27th, 2019, 11:57 pm They think that people will drive far and wide to get the 90 day supply which cannot be gotten at other pharmacy chains or mail order.
Not sure on other chains, but our local supermarket pharmacy has no problem doing 90 day refills, so not sure why others would not want to do them.
Certain insurances will only let you get that 90 day supply at a CVS (but you can get the 30 day supply elsewhere...). It is a subtle way to get people to CVS.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by rwsandiego »

BillyGr wrote: July 30th, 2019, 1:05 pm...
Not sure on other chains, but our local supermarket pharmacy has no problem doing 90 day refills, so not sure why others would not want to do them.
According to my health plan (Anthem) they only cover 90-day refils at CVS. Safeway supports them and so does Walgreens, but as an Anthem member I have to get a 90-day supply at CVS.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: July 30th, 2019, 6:08 pm
BillyGr wrote: July 30th, 2019, 1:05 pm...
Not sure on other chains, but our local supermarket pharmacy has no problem doing 90 day refills, so not sure why others would not want to do them.
According to my health plan (Anthem) they only cover 90-day refils at CVS. Safeway supports them and so does Walgreens, but as an Anthem member I have to get a 90-day supply at CVS.
I think they are a little more flexible in regions with no or limited CVS presence regarding these rules... might be part of why CVS is pushing expansion into markets they could have entered previously (Longs traded out of OR/WA and sold CO right before CVS bought them and I'm sure it was because CVS didn't want those Longs)
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote: July 30th, 2019, 6:14 pm
rwsandiego wrote: July 30th, 2019, 6:08 pm
BillyGr wrote: July 30th, 2019, 1:05 pm...
Not sure on other chains, but our local supermarket pharmacy has no problem doing 90 day refills, so not sure why others would not want to do them.
According to my health plan (Anthem) they only cover 90-day refils at CVS. Safeway supports them and so does Walgreens, but as an Anthem member I have to get a 90-day supply at CVS.
I think they are a little more flexible in regions with no or limited CVS presence regarding these rules... might be part of why CVS is pushing expansion into markets they could have entered previously (Longs traded out of OR/WA and sold CO right before CVS bought them and I'm sure it was because CVS didn't want those Longs)
So here's a little update to what I posted earlier. Despite Anthem stating they only offered 90-day refills via CVS pharmacy, they approved a 90-day refill of a very expensive medication at Safeway. The manufacturer of the medication offers a copay card, so at first I thought they picked up the entire amount of the claim. However, Anthem's website stated they were billed the cost of three months' supply, and my responsibility was my normal copy times three. The copay card picked up the balance.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by BillyGr »

OK, that makes sense that it's what the insurance wants to pay for, and also that they would allow it elsewhere in some cases (or perhaps they just make it sound like they won't figuring most people won't bother to check further and that way they'll get to keep most of the business).
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by rwsandiego »

BillyGr wrote: July 31st, 2019, 11:42 am OK, that makes sense that it's what the insurance wants to pay for, and also that they would allow it elsewhere in some cases (or perhaps they just make it sound like they won't figuring most people won't bother to check further and that way they'll get to keep most of the business).
I think Anthem is relying on the member to not attempt a 90-day refill. I take a few other maintenance meds, but they are zero copay through Anthem's mail order so I will tolerate re-ordering every 30 days. Not sure whether there would be a copay for a 90-day supply through CVS.

I'm waiting for CVS to implode like Sears has done over the last 30 years. There are certainly parallels.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: July 31st, 2019, 7:20 pm
BillyGr wrote: July 31st, 2019, 11:42 am OK, that makes sense that it's what the insurance wants to pay for, and also that they would allow it elsewhere in some cases (or perhaps they just make it sound like they won't figuring most people won't bother to check further and that way they'll get to keep most of the business).
I think Anthem is relying on the member to not attempt a 90-day refill. I take a few other maintenance meds, but they are zero copay through Anthem's mail order so I will tolerate re-ordering every 30 days. Not sure whether there would be a copay for a 90-day supply through CVS.

I'm waiting for CVS to implode like Sears has done over the last 30 years. There are certainly parallels.
CVS Retail would have imploded already... but it started with Caremark and now Aetna where they have diversified nicely. And the past 10-15 years have been extremely kind to the health care "industry" in the US despite a lot of rhetoric. Until that tide shifts, and I have little confidence it will shift until the current system literally snaps, CVS will keep doing very well.
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Re: Portland, Ore. receiving first stand-alone CVS Pharmacy

Post by SamSpade »

Another coming soon posting, as Babs noted. Kitty corner from The Pearl District Whole Foods Market, a few blocks from tourist central Powell's.

WFM is also closed at 9 now, I believe that used to be 10 or 11.
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