Giant Eagle, Mark Cuban team up to slash medication prices

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh native and entrepreneur Mark Cuban was at his hometown Giant Eagle Wednesday, standing side by side with CEO Bill Artman for a big announcement.

“Giant eagle is Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh is Giant Eagle,” Cuban said. “You can take the boy out of Pittsburgh, but you can’t take the yinzer out of the boy.”

Cuban and Artman announced their partnership and their goal to provide less expensive medications and prescriptions to customers through Cuban’s company, Cost Plus Drug.

The pharmaceutical company touts huge drug savings with only adding a 15% markup.

“There are a lot of companies that will market up 100%, 200% whatever it may be. Or if there’s a shortage, they’ll mark it up more. We don’t do that at all,” he ssaid.

According to Artman, after Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy, Giant Eagle acquired six million prescriptions, and he sees the partnership as a way to save more customers money.

“This is fantastic, just another way that customers can save and have the convenience of our pharmacies,” Artman said.

Cuban told Channel 11 that transparency is key with his company and they provide a full breakdown for each cost affiliated with the drug.

“When we look at the health care industry and we look at what prices are being charged, pharmaceutical or care, people don’t really trust it. There’s no transparency there and the self-interest is really high,” Cuban said.

To sign up for the program, you can visit the Cost Plus Drugs website.

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