Save Thousands on Your Medications with Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs

If you're in your 40s or 50s and managing chronic conditions, you know the drill: every month, a big chunk of your budget disappears on medications. It's frustrating – you're trying to stay healthy, but the costs of pills for diabetes, blood pressure, or cholesterol feel like a second mortgage.

The good news? There's a way to slash those pharmacy bills by thousands of dollars a year. Enter Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs, an online pharmacy offering generic medications at ultra-low prices.

In this article, we'll break down how switching to Cost Plus Drugs can save you a small fortune, using real examples. We'll also walk you through step-by-step how to make the switch – all in a friendly, no-nonsense tone. Let's turn those $200–$300 monthly medication bills into something much easier on your wallet!

Why Are Your Meds So Expensive Each Month?

If you feel like you're spending way too much on prescriptions, you're not alone. Millions of people in their 40s and 50s with chronic conditions (like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol) end up paying hundreds of dollars every month on medications.

Even with HMO insurance, there can be co-pays, deductibles, or formulary issues that leave you footing a hefty bill. For example, a typical middle-aged patient might be on a few common drugs: say metformin for diabetes, losartan or metoprolol for blood pressure, and atorvastatin for cholesterol.

It's not unusual for someone like this to pay on the order of $150-$200 per month out-of-pocket for these meds combined (especially before hitting an insurance deductible or if their plan's co-pays are high). Multiply that by 12 months, and we're talking $1,800-$2,400 a year. Do you want to keep losing that much money? I'm guessing not.

Why do these costs get so high? The U.S. drug pricing system has a lot of markups and middlemen. Pharmacies and benefit managers negotiate complex rebates and profit margins that aren't transparent. In plain English, by the time your medication gets to you, its price may be wildly inflated over what it actually costs to make.

Even generic drugs (which are supposed to be cheap) can carry significant markups due to pharmacy benefit managers and supply chain costs. So, you might be paying $40, $50, or more a month for a generic that costs only a few bucks to produce.

Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company was created to solve exactly this problem. Let's see how it works and why it can afford to charge so much less.

Meet Cost Plus Drugs: A Game-Changer for Generic Meds

Mark Cuban (the billionaire from Shark Tank) launched the Cost Plus Drugs pharmacy with a simple mission: provide medications at the lowest possible price, with complete transparency.

It's a mail-order pharmacy (website: costplusdrugs.com) that skips the usual middlemen. Here's what makes Cost Plus different:

Generic Drugs with Flat 15% Markup

Cost Plus buys generic drugs directly from manufacturers and sells them at cost plus 15%, with a nominal, flat pharmacy fee on top. They actually show you the math for each drug. For example, if a batch of pills costs them $10 to obtain, they add 15% ($1.50) and a flat handling fee (about $3–$5) – that's it. No outrageous markups.

This transparency is radical. On the Cost Plus site's drug pages, you can often see a breakdown like: Manufacturing cost: $1.23, Markup: $0.18, Pharmacy labor: $5. They want you to know exactly why you're paying what you pay.

No Middleman PBMs

Traditional insurance pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate drug prices and often take a cut. Cost Plus cuts out PBMs and wholesalers by negotiating directly and even acting as its own pharmacy benefit manager for some services. This means the price you see is closer to the true cost.

Direct-to-Consumer, Cash Pay or Insurance

Initially, Cost Plus did not rely on insurance at all – it was a cash-pay model where you pay the pharmacy directly (often much less than your insurance co-pay!). As of now, they are starting to partner with a few insurance plans.

Even if you're on insurance, you'll still save a lot by using Cost Plus Drugs. The prices are so low that most customers still come out way ahead by paying $5 instead of a $20 insurance co-pay.

Low Shipping Costs

Since it's mail-order, you might wonder about shipping fees. Cost Plus charges a small shipping fee (standard shipping is about $5 per order for 1–2 prescriptions). This is a flat fee, so ordering a 90-day supply of four different meds might only cost $7 total to ship – a trivial amount compared to the savings you're getting on the meds themselves.

In short, Cost Plus Drugs is able to offer huge savings by eliminating the usual profit layers. But talk is cheap – let's look at real numbers for those common medications we mentioned.

Breaking Down the Savings on Common Meds

To really see the difference, let's compare the typical costs someone might incur for a few popular generic medications versus what they'd pay through Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs. We'll use metformin, losartan, metoprolol, and atorvastatin as examples, since these are frequently prescribed for chronic conditions.

Metformin (Type 2 Diabetes) – Generic for Glucophage

Metformin is a very common diabetes pill. Many insurers cover it, but patients without a great pharmacy plan can pay around $15–$20 for a month's supply of generic metformin at retail pharmacies.

At Cost Plus, 90-day refills of metformin cost only $8, which works out to less than $3 per month.

Annual cost: roughly $240 at a traditional pharmacy vs $30 at Cost Plus – a savings of about $210 a year on this drug alone.

Losartan (High Blood Pressure) – Generic for Cozaar

Losartan is a common ARB used for hypertension. At a local pharmacy, a typical cash price or insurance co-pay for 30 tablets of 50mg losartan might be around $30+ per month.

At Cost Plus, 90-day refills of losartan cost only $9, which again works out to $3 per month.

Annual cost: roughly $400 per year at typical prices vs $36 per year via Cost Plus – a savings of over $360 a year on losartan.

Metoprolol (High Blood Pressure / Heart) – Generic for Lopressor or Toprol XL

Metoprolol comes in two forms – tartrate (immediate release, often twice-daily) and succinate (extended release, once-daily). A typical monthly cost for generic metoprolol can range widely. With insurance co-pays, maybe it's $10-$20; without insurance, the retail price might be around $20–$30 for a month supply.

At Cost Plus, 90-day refills of metoprolol cost only $6, which works out to $2 per month.

Annual cost: approximately $250 per year at retail vs $24 per year Cost Plus – nearly $225 saved.

Atorvastatin (High Cholesterol) – Generic for Lipitor

Statins like atorvastatin are extremely common for managing cholesterol. Even though generic Lipitor is supposed to be cheap, the prices can be all over the map. The average U.S. retail price for 30 tablets of atorvastatin (generic) can be quite high – one report lists it around $68–$70 for a month's supply of 20mg.

At Cost Plus, 90-day refills of atorvastatin cost only $9, which works out to $3 per month.

Annual cost: roughly $828 per year at $69/mo retail, vs $36 per year through Cost Plus – a jaw-dropping $800 saved per year on just this one medication.

Summary of Savings

Notice the "All four combined" line – it's staggering. Roughly $144 a month (which is actually a bit conservative; many pay $200+ in some cases) vs about $11 a month with Cost Plus for those four meds. That's $133 saved every month. Over a year, that's $1,596 saved.

Bottom line: By switching to Cost Plus Drugs for generics, many patients can save on the order of $100–$200 per month. That's money back in your pocket – easily $1,000 to $2,000+ per year that you could be saving. Think about what you could do with an extra two grand a year!

Now that we've seen the "why" in dollars and cents, let's look at the "how." How do you actually switch your prescriptions to Cost Plus Drugs and start saving?

How to Switch to Cost Plus Drugs – Step by Step

Step 1: Find your medications

Step 2: Sign up for an account

Step 3: Transfer your prescriptions

Making the switch to Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs is easier than you might think. It's all done online and via mail, but you will need your doctor's cooperation to send over your prescriptions. Here's a step-by-step guide to get started:

1. Find and Price Your Medications on Cost Plus

Visit the Cost Plus Drugs website and use the search bar to find your medications in their online catalog. They have hundreds of common drugs listed alphabetically or by condition. Check that your specific meds (and the right dosages) are available. Take note of the prices – you'll likely be pleasantly surprised!

2. Sign Up for an Account

Next, you'll need to create a free Cost Plus Drugs account. You can sign up right on the website (they'll ask for basic info like name, address, etc., just as any pharmacy would). This account is where your prescriptions will be managed. It only takes a few minutes.

3. Fill the Prescription Form & Contact Your Doctor

This is a key step – you'll need to fill out the prescription formDownload and send it to your doctor so that they can approve it and send to Cost Plus pharmacy. Cost Plus Drugs is a licensed pharmacy, so your doctor can send prescriptions directly to them.

Make sure to do this for each medication you want to switch. It may take a day or two for your doctor's office to process the request.

4. Wait for Confirmation and Checkout

Once Cost Plus receives the prescription from your doctor, they'll link it to your online account. You should get an email notification or see an update in your account saying your prescription is ready. At that point, you can checkout and pay for the medication.

The website has a typical online shopping cart – you'll pay the price of the meds (as listed) plus the flat shipping fee and taxes. No insurance card needed!

5. Receive Your Meds at Home

After checkout, Cost Plus will ship the medications directly to your door. Standard shipping usually takes a few days. The meds come in the mail, in discreet packaging.

Congrats – you just got your prescriptions for a fraction of the cost! Going forward, you can manage refills through the Cost Plus account. They will typically send reminders when it's time to refill.

A Few Extra Tips

• Coordinate Timing: If you're switching from an existing pharmacy, make sure you have enough medication on hand to last during the transfer.
• Ask for 90-day Refill: The medication from Cost Plus can take 1-2 weeks to arrive (they use USPS Ground). A 90-day supply usually costs about the same as a 30-day supply—and you only pay one shipping fee instead of three. So it's much more cost-effective to request a 90-day refill. Extra extra tip: You can even ask your doctor for a 360-day prescription. Surprisingly, the price for that isn't much higher than a single month's supply!
• Consult Your Doctor: It's always good to loop in your doctor about your cost concerns. Most doctors will be supportive of switching to a more affordable option.
• Other Common Medications: We highlighted four drugs, but Cost Plus carries many others – from antidepressants to asthma inhalers. The savings can be similarly impressive.

A New Era of Affordable Medication

It's not often you get to save thousands of dollars a year without much hassle, especially on something as essential as medications. Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs is enabling just that.

By switching to generics through this platform, patients with chronic conditions can free themselves from the crushing monthly costs that have become all too familiar. Instead of dreading the pharmacy bill or rationing pills to make them last, you can get the full 90-day supply of each medicine, stay adherent to your treatment, and still have money left over for the fun things in life (like your beer or nice dinners!).

If you're currently spending a fortune on chronic medications, it's time to seriously consider switching to generics from Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs. It's friendly to use, professionally run, and could save you a boatload of money.

Talk to your doctor, create an account, and give it a try. Your wallet will thank you, and you'll wonder why you didn't switch sooner.

Sources: Recent pricing data and information were obtained from the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs official site and reputable reports. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making changes to how you fill your prescriptions.