An option to purchase low-cost drugs is available from Mark Cuban

A local county resident called to say she was alarmed when her prescription recently rose six times higher than what it used to cost when she had it filled here. That steep increase caused her to look around for a cheaper alternative, and she found one in Cost Plus Drugs, a company recently founded by Mark Cuban.

“My cost went from paying more than $70 to paying $6 plus a five-dollar shipping fee for three months of medication and it only took four days for the pills to arrive.”

Cuban offers generic drugs, taking out the middleman so consumers can save money. Not every medication can be found on Cuban’s website, but it has more than one hundred to pick from.

The way the program works is for you to go to the website, find the generic medication you need, and then ask your doctor to send the company’s pharmacy partner your prescription.

On the website, it explains, “We’re different than your normal drug wholesaler. We think you should know how much your medications cost and why. For example, a 30-count supply of 400mg imatinib will cost $47.50. So you save $9,610 on your medication.”

“We started Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company because every American should have access to safe, affordable medicines. If you don’t have insurance or have a high deductible plan, you know that even the most basic medications can cost a fortune. Many people are spending crazy amounts of money each month just to stay healthy. No American should have to suffer or worse – because they can’t afford basic prescription medications,” Mark Cuban states on the website.

The recently launched venture is called “radically transparent,” and Cuban can keep it running because it charges its costs for the manufactured drugs plus a 15 percent mark-up on those drugs and a pharmacy fee if one is added on.

Cuban is also building an $11 million drug manufacturing facility in Dallas, which should help keep generic drug prices stable.

As of now, the program doesn’t accept medical insurance, and some products like insulin aren’t offered. But the company is new and will evolve, and at least for one Cook County resident, it provides an affordable option for her, one she wanted to pass along to our readers.