--- title: Mark Cuban's New Discount Pharmacy Promises Low-Cost Drugs. Just How Cheap Is It? description: Mark Cuban launched a discount pharmacy promising low-cost drugs, where people can get cheap prescription drugs with no insurance. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 499 covers: - Health and Wellness - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ published: '2022-01-25T17:15:42.000Z' modified: '2024-02-18T13:21:10.000Z' section: Health and Wellness tags: - Drugs - Health Care - medical costs word_count: 961 canonical: https://money.com/mark-cuban-pharmacy-drug-prices-comparison/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Mark Cuban and a picture of a pill bottle from his company](https://img.money.com/2022/01/News-Mark-Cuban-has-a-new-website-selling-prescription-drugs.jpg) Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban recently launched a new venture to combat the [sky-high prices of prescription drugs](https://money.com/how-to-save-on-medical-costs/). Cuban, best known as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and for his role in the reality TV show *Shark Tank,* is now putting his name behind a new online pharmacy offering low-price generic drugs to the public — with no insurance needed. In fact, insurance is not accepted at all at the new venture, which is called the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) and officially launched Jan. 19, according to a [news release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mark-cuban-cost-plus-drug-companys-online-pharmacy-launches-with-lowest-prices-on-100-lifesaving-prescriptions-301463491.html). The company is a direct-to-consumer online pharmacy that pledges “radically transparent” drug prices. The MCCPDC website, [CostPlusDrugs.com](https://costplusdrugs.com/), currently offers an inventory of more than 100 generic drugs that are deeply discounted from their retail prices. Shipping is currently available to 49 states — all except North Carolina. "We will do whatever it takes to get affordable pharmaceuticals to patients," said CEO Alex Oshmyansky in the release. "The markup on potentially lifesaving drugs that people depend on is a problem that can't be ignored.” As part of its transparency pledge, the online pharmacy breaks down exactly how much you’re paying for a specific drug and why. The company shares what it pays drug manufacturers, then adds a 15% markup plus a flat $3 pharmacy labor fee — all of which are explicitly outlined during the checkout process. ## Staying healthy has never been more important ### Protect yourself and your loved ones with a comprehensive and affordable health insurance plan. Click your state to learn more. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/ud9b374d7112?ap_referrer=%2Fmark-cuban-pharmacy-drug-prices-comparison%2F) For example, Albendazole — the generic form of Albenza — is an antiparasitic drug that is used to treat various tape-worm-related infections, according to the National Institutes of Health. On the MCCPDC website, the generic drug costs $33 for two 200 mg tablets. The company explains that it negotiated a $26.08 price with the manufacturer, applied a 15% markup of $3.92 and a flat $3 pharmacy fee. (A $5 shipping fee and, of course, taxes are extra.) The regular retail price for Albendazole is a whopping $437.68, according to the site. ## Where to find low-price prescription drugs To put MCCPDC's drug prices into perspective, we compared them with third-party retail price estimates and two other discount-drug websites, Drugs.com and GoodRx.com. Here’s how a few other generic drugs available on MCCPDC stack up. While Cuban's pharmacy currently has a limited number of generic drugs right now, all the ones we compared were significantly cheaper than retail prices and other discount drug websites.
DrugQuantity and doseMCCPDC priceGoodRx avg. discounted priceDrugs.com discounted priceEstimated retail price
Abacavir / lamivudine (generic Epzicom)30 count; 600 mg / 300 mg tablets$57.60$86.08$121$1,096.10 - $1,226.40
Amlodipine (generic Norvasc)30 count; 10 mg tablets$3.60$22.90$24.84$29.84 - $50
Atorvastatin (generic Lipitor)30 count; 40 mg tablets$4.20$21.63$19.53 – $32.02$55.20 - $68
Fluoxetine (generic Prozac)30 count; 10 mg capsules$3.90$15$12.01 - $30.93$22.80 - $23.89
Imatinib (generic Gleevec)30 count; 100 mg tablets$17.10$41.29$218.59$2,502.50 - $3,212.88
The savings seem impressive. But note: Cuban's online pharmacy does not accept insurance currently. Your health insurance plan — if you have one — may help cover the cost of certain prescription drugs purchased at in-network pharmacies, though drug plans vary widely by insurer. Prescription drugs purchased with insurance may also count toward your deductible, if you have one. In some cases, you may have to meet your overall deductible or a specific prescription-drug deductible before drug discounts apply. Figuring out where and how it makes the most sense to get your prescription drugs is not always simple. Say your health plan does cover a drug: the price you pay out of pocket will probably be much lower than the non-discounted "retail price" listed above. But if your prescription is covered by your insurer *and* is available through MCCPDC, you should compare your out-of-pocket costs to see which is truly cheaper. ## A Health Insurance Plan has never been more important. Sign up for yours today. ### Protect yourself and your family with a quality Health Insurance Plan. Get more information now by clicking below. [Get a Free Quote](https://money.com/pr/i6df27a1196b?ap_referrer=%2Fmark-cuban-pharmacy-drug-prices-comparison%2F) ## How Mark Cuban's pharmacy keeps drug prices low "There are numerous bad actors in the pharmaceutical supply chain preventing patients from getting affordable medicines," Oshmyansky said in the release. "The only way to ensure affordable prices get through is to vertically integrate." In other words, the online pharmacy is able to offer generic drugs at a discount because it cuts out middlemen, namely third-party pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). Cuban and Oshmyansky’s operation has its own pharmacy benefits management wing that negotiates directly with drug makers, rather than relying on one of the few massive PBMs that dominate the market. According to a recent [analysis](https://www.drugchannels.net/2021/04/the-top-pharmacy-benefit-managers-pbms.html) by the Drug Channels Institute, six PBMs handled more than 95% of all prescription drug claims in the U.S. in 2020. With the top three — CVS, Cigna and UnitedHealth — dominating 77% of the market. “The public sees profits made by pharmaceutical companies as the largest factor contributing to the price of prescription drugs,” according to a [report](https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-opinion-on-prescription-drugs-and-their-prices/) by Kaiser Family Foundation. A KFF poll found that 78% of respondents say that profits from pharmaceutical companies are a “major factor” of drug prices, and that 29% reported they haven’t taken their medications as prescribed due to their costs. By circumventing some of some of those "bad actors," Cuban's pharmacy can better manage the price of the drugs it offers. And while the pharmacy does not accept insurance, its prices may still rival the cost of certain drugs, even if they're already discounted through your insurance plan. “In most cases, even without insurance,” the site states, “our prices are less than what you would pay when using your insurance at a typical pharmacy.” ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/mark-cuban-pharmacy-drug-prices-comparison/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Health and Wellness", "item": "https://money.com/health-and-wellness/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Prescription Drugs", "item": "https://money.com/prescription-drugs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mark Cuban's New Discount Pharmacy Promises Low-Cost Drugs. 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