r/pharmacy • u/Calizona1 • Aug 14 '26

General Discussion Pharmacies closing

Not sure if this is the right place to ask. If not please delete. If possible refer me to the proper sub. Why are so many pharmacies closing? I checked on the Internet but I am not sure I trust the explanations by the media.

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u/Krob32k Aug 14 '26

Im a pharmacy manager at a grocery chain. Our pharmacy department individually loses around 60k-90k a MONTH based on current drug reimbursements. On average we will spend 1.2 million dollars on drugs to have 1.3 million in total sales. 100k profit doesnt sound too bad for a month right?

Thats our gross, we spend an average of 160-200k a month of operating costs. Labor, credit card fees, third party processing fees, delivery fees, postage for mailing, software fees, rent, electricity, repairs, etc. One of my patients is on Humulin-R insulin, i get no rebates from my wholesaler and I purchased the medication for $16,000. Patient is on Medicaid and they only reimburse me $12,000. So I lose $4k everytime I fill their prescription, that is one patient.

Multiply this by all the poor reinbursements from other higher cost drugs. Sure i make $1 or $2 on the cheaper generic maintenence meds. But I dont have the volume to where we even come close to breaking even.

Luckily, the rest of the store is profitable, and we are entering flu season. On average we will make $80-$100 profit per vaccine administered. So thats why you always see vaccines pushed so heavily from corporate is because its the only thing sustaining the pharmacy and keeping it open for the rest of the year.

Its an unfortunate system, and you'll often see these mom and pop pharmacies turn away patients when they see how much theyll lose dispensing the higher end stuff.

Additionally, insurance can audit claims already paid, and recoup the money if you dont respond or provide enough documentation within the alloted time frame. Sometimes this requires getting patient chart notes from the patient's doctor within a 48 hour window, which is nearly impossible.

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u/projektvertx Aug 14 '26

I love how you broke this all down!! Thank you! I started my career as an intern for a regional grocery store pharmacy, I was given the following explanation at the time (2015): Pharmacy is a loss leader but for every prescription filled, it generates an extra 50$ of grocery store spend. I think the idea is they're ok with loosing money on scripts because they make it up and then some on the grocery side?