Episode 093: Cutting Generic Drug Prices for Everyone with Zach Zeller of Scriptco

One driver of health care inflation in the United States are pharmaceuticals. Although we usually associate rising drug prices with prescription medicines, that is not always the case. In fact, the purchase of generics through insurance plans can be surprisingly expensive. This is because the 'discount' provided by your insurance carrier may not really be much of a discount and your copay could be many times more expensive than the wholesale price of the drug.

That's why my guest today is so intriguing. Zach Zeller of Scriptco came up with idea of a subscription based pharmacy when his wife asked him if there was a less expensive way to get her generic migraine medications. After looking into the price of other generic wholesale prices he realized there was potentially a gigantic market available for a disruptor. He chose to be that disruptor.

Scriptco is a brand new company that has fully transparent prices and makes its money by having customers sign up for an annual membership. Accessing the drugs is fast and efficient and by offering free shipping four times a year the company looks to have people only fill their prescriptions quarterly eliminating a lot of the hassle from their lives. Scriptco runs circles around the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) which control the ridiculously inflated prices of medications in the US. Currently, Scriptco serves eight states but they expect to be in all 50 states by the end of 2020.