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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello, and welcome to Episode 205 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's episode is short and sweet, under 20 minutes, and I think you're going to love it. It's with Chris Pierce from Costco, I asked Chris to come on the show today to talk about the Dexcom g six purchase program that Costco is now running. Wait till you hear the prices for people who are uninsured or underinsured. They're insane, absolutely crazy. Also, you might be hearing this longtime listeners might think, hey, Scott sounds extra super smooth. That's because I have a brand new microphone, which is amazing. But that also means that for a little while you might be hearing interviews that sound like they're from one mic. While the ads and the bumpers on either side of the show are gonna sound like this. Trust me, it's only going to be for about a dozen episodes, and then it'll be all gone. I want to thank our sponsors on the pod dex calm dancing for diabetes and real good foods. about midway in the show, I'm going to do all of the ads at once in a two minute chunk. It's a lot of quick talking, I hope I can do it.

Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise. And always consult a physician before making changes to your medical plan. I've seen a ton of confusion in the diabetes community about this kasco program. So I'm gonna put a link in the show notes of this episode. So if you see people talking about it, and they seem confused, just share that link. And it'll take them right back to Juicebox podcast.com, where they'll be able to listen to this brief interview with Chris Pierce, from Costco. Speaking of which, listen to a little more music. And then we'll get to Chris

Chris Pierce 1:54
Zach Chris Pierce, the senior executive. In charge of addition, the Costco we call Costco Health Solutions in that division that includes a program that we call a Costco member prescription program. And in that we concentrate our efforts on on improving the affordability of medication.

Unknown Speaker 2:15
Costco

Chris Pierce 2:15
is a nationwide chain, or is it just the Americas where you guys that he have operations in a dozen different countries. This particular program and the interest around this, this offering is specific to the United States. This is for the United States only. Okay, that's important to get out of the way early.

Scott Benner 2:37
There are people who use Dexcom CGM is all over the world. But they're not they're not, um, they're not unaccustomed to being to being second in these in these endeavors.

Chris Pierce 2:50
But we, we would like to fix it for them too. And as we learn a little bit more about the program, hopefully, it'll it'll be easier for everybody to understand. But at the moment, just just limited to the US.

Scott Benner 3:00
Okay. And the program we're talking about, of course, is the ability to buy a dexcom. And it's just the G six, is that correct?

Unknown Speaker 3:06
That's correct. Yeah,

Scott Benner 3:07
the dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor is available at Costco. And I know that's been sort of, you might have been seeing it on Facebook or, you know, Instagram or something like that. But it's always seems a little confusing to everyone. So I thought I would have Chris on, he could explain quickly and succinctly what it's about. So can you just first kind of give me an overview of the program?

Chris Pierce 3:28
The concept of the program is we know there are a large number of individuals who are either uninsured or under insured. And so the goal of this program is to bring some of the negotiation power that's typically held with insurance companies directly to members. And so in this particular case, we're working hard with a number of manufacturers, one including Dexcom, to bring their discounting, again, directly back to the patient. So it results in some pretty substantial reductions in price.

Scott Benner 4:04
Okay, so not to not to cut my listenership. But if you've got insurance, this isn't for you. Is that correct?

Chris Pierce 4:11
That's correct. The requirement would be unless your insurance doesn't cover this item. We do know, about 40 to 50% of CGM, this are not necessarily available to individuals who have insurance, either because there's other requirements to get access to the product, or just not available through a particular PBM or an insurance company. And so I understand there would be a large number of your listeners who, who might appreciate the value.

Scott Benner 4:46
Is that the definition of underinsured or are we talking about three segments? uninsured, I understand is underinsured. The idea that you have insurance but it doesn't cover Dexcom

Chris Pierce 4:58
correct. Okay. And learning. So there are lots of reasons why you would potentially be under insured. Okay, but for this particular program and for this particular product, it is as easily defined as you don't have coverage for that item as you think about other items, products, like Viagra or something, those are routinely not covered by insurance programs. And we have savings on those types of products. Wow.

Scott Benner 5:26
So I can keep my blood sugar stable in my relationship and check all at Costco you're saying if I'm underinsured or uninsured, I hear what you're getting at. Okay, can I get a cheap hotdog?

Chris Pierce 5:35
Yes, we've been able to hold a hot dog a fairly good value for an extended period of time. Hopefully

Scott Benner 5:40
you've had a chance to try actually have. Okay, so that that's the, the, the kind of high level overview of what we're talking about. Now, I want to give people just a real, like nuts and bolts idea of what it is they need to do to make this happen. I obviously I'm gonna say obviously, but I need a prescription. That's the first thing

Unknown Speaker 6:04
right now.

Scott Benner 6:06
Are you the type of pharmacy? I've never done my pharmacy business with Costco before, can I have my doctor send the prescription to you and you fill it? Or do I have to walk in with it and paper does not matter?

Chris Pierce 6:18
Doesn't matter you can have if you have a paper prescription, you can bring it in. Most of our prescriptions are received electronically today. Doctors can beam them across if you will. Or if you are already shopping at Costco and just learning about this particular opportunity and you think it's a good fit, then our pharmacists can reach out to physicians and obtain a prescription if so desired as well.

Scott Benner 6:46
Okay, so I'm in Costco, I'm getting 15 pounds of potatoes. And I think to myself, I heard about this on the podcast about Dexcom. I didn't get it straight. If I walk over to the pharmacy counter just say, look, this is my doctor's information, this is my information, can you please get the script here, they can actually handle it from the pharmacy. Right? That's excellent. Okay. Now, I want to veer away for just a second to understand the kind of larger overview because in my, in my view, this is a really important first step in healthcare for people. Because basically what you guys are, if I'm wrong, you'll you'll stop me, I guess what happens is, is that people make medical devices or medication, and then they have to get it to you somehow. And there's a in between man, you know, a Pharmacy Benefits manager in between. But that's not is that not in play here with the relationship you have with Dexcom? Is it just you and Dexcom in the picture?

Chris Pierce 7:40
Yeah, we streamline that, that middleman. There's a lot of inefficiency in those arrangements. And so in a true form Costco model, we look to go direct. And by doing so, you don't incur those other expenses that happened in those other way many of those other parties involved.

Scott Benner 8:03
And that's leading us to a fairly significant savings with Dexcom. So I kind of want to go over the pricing. Real good foods is real food, you can feel good about eating they have poppers now with more filling and more flavor. They are so very tender cauliflower crust pizza that my mom absolutely loves. How about that, oh, gee, chicken crust pizza, four grams of carbs, 25 grams of protein, you know you love it. Here's the best part when you go to real good foods calm and use the promo code juice box, you will save 10% on your entire order. And how about real good foods has free two day shipping. Once that food arrives, you're going to need to give yourself some insulin and for that, you're going to want to Omni pod tubeless insulin pump go to my Omni pod.com Ford slash juice box there, you will be able to get a free no obligation demo of the Omni pod do it today that's free and it has no obligation. Really, it's not going to get much better than that. Unless, of course, you can see your blood sugar before you make decisions about those boluses and basal rates. And you know how you're going to do that with the dexcom g six continuous glucose monitor. Not only does the Dexcom show you where your blood sugar is, what direction it's going and how fast it's going. But others can see it too with their Dexcom following share features for Android and Apple. Once you're all done, you sit down in your house, your belly is full, your blood sugar is stable, you're pleased with yourself and you think I want to do something good in the world. So you go to dancing for diabetes.com and you'll learn about the good works that they're doing with children who live with Type One Diabetes. And they do it all through dance. And I did this in less than two minutes. You can go to Juicebox podcast.com where the links in your show notes to get links to everything I've just spoken about here today. The things you want are within reach and you deserve them. Go get them

the transmitter for everybody who you know Where's it or is thinking of wearing it is the device that you there's two things you wear in your body, there's a sensor that goes on your body, and then the transmitter clips into the sensor. But the transmitter is the thing I think of as being one of the big expenses. So how much are the transmitters through your program?

Chris Pierce 10:17
transmitters are $26 and 90 cents.

Scott Benner 10:21
There's a lot of quiet over here, because I passed out Hold on a second. Okay, so I'm sorry, one more time. $26 in one and 90 cents, $26 and 90 cents for a transmitter. I'm excited. Everyone knows you can use an AI an android or an iPhone to use your Dexcom g sex. But if you don't, you might need a receiver and the receiver cost

Chris Pierce 10:40
$35 and 97 cents. I should have my

Scott Benner 10:44
calculator out here because I don't think we're to 100 bucks yet. Okay. And then the sensors,

Chris Pierce 10:48
how many in a pack? We sell them in a three pack for our $318 and 29 732. So a three pack is

Scott Benner 10:58
a month. So okay, so I'm sorry, give me that last number again for the sensors. Three 318 29 1829. Okay, so basically, if I'm if I'm underinsured, uninsured, out of pocket, I gotta, you know, I got to hit my transmitters, which last three months. So I need a transmitter every three months. And I need, you know, sensors at 318 a month. That seems? Well, I'll tell you what, it seems very reasonable to me. And it's a it's a vast improvement for a lot of people. I have insurance. To me, that sounds like a lot. I know what I pay every month. And it's it's not close to that. But if I didn't have it, the cash price, do you have an idea of how much people are saving by not buying directly? From Dexcom?

Chris Pierce 11:42
Yeah, we surveyed the market a little bit to get some sense of the pricing that's out there. Obviously everybody's arrangement is different. But there are hundreds of dollars of savings on an on an item basis, individual item basis, we think are quite substantial. And we would hope that the individuals want to use it would see it the same way. As compared to what they're paying today,

Scott Benner 12:06
you would think and so let me ask you this question. And maybe you don't have the answer, because I'm asking you to put your mind yourself in the minds of the other people. But you know, the businesses that you do business with? If I'm them, you're you're important in this piece, because you have distribution, right? Because you have a pharmacy set up already, because you're your brick and mortar, you're out there. So it's worth them to sell a little less because they expand their reach and their ability to sell things cheaper is that? Am I understanding that correctly? Like I'm trying to I'm wondering, for people who are hearing that and thinking well, why can't I just buy it for Dexcom at that price? Like there's, there's got to be a reason.

Chris Pierce 12:41
Yeah, you know, it difficult to comment on exactly why other people run different business models and have different pricing. But I can tell you that what we do at Costco, whether it's with a Dexcom product or $1 50, odd dog like joked about earlier, or any other items we sell, we just do the same thing, right, we look to find the value in, in the process, right up to take some of the efficiencies out and, and provide the best value that we can for our members. So you do have to be a member of Costco to to receive this discount and participate in this program. But you know, we think with the value that's provided here, it's another great example of a way to get good value out of your membership. Yeah,

Scott Benner 13:25
I listen, by the Can I tell you something? Let me say something nice here for a second, I am a Costco member. It's funny the things you don't think about, I go into Costco and I buy a giant thing of paper towels. And they are as nice as any brand name paper towel that I've kind of ever used or seen. And there's a significant savings. Now there are some things in there, I look at them that you know, that doesn't save me enough, or I don't want 15 pounds of potatoes just to save money. But there's a ton of stuff in there that weekly we go in and buy. So if I could be a member already save money on other things, and have this benefit from Dexcom. And whatever else you guys doing that that is the last thing that I wanted to ask you about before I let you go and you may or may not know this, but is this the beginning of something like are we gonna see more of this from you guys? And is there any plans that you can speak about? Am I gonna be able to get my insulin pump supplies from you or tested or anything like that?

Chris Pierce 14:18
Yeah, you know, we we continue to work with manufacturers in a number of different categories. And so if you were to go on to costco.com, and look for the MPP that the name of the program, you'd see a collection of products, we joke a little bit about Viagra, but there are pretty broad collection of different manufacturers who see the value in in the efficiency of what we're trying to do here. And so we're optimistic that we'll be able to continue to do this and a number of additional areas and if you or your listeners have some particular area for which you'd like us to try to go take a look at, we'd be happy to do so. Okay.

Scott Benner 14:56
I appreciate so they can reach out to you through the website. If they've had have an idea.

Unknown Speaker 15:02
Sure. Yeah,

Scott Benner 15:03
there you go. So if you want Cosco to carry something, bug them about it. Chris, Chris was looking forward to your emails. You're not busy at all right, Chris, he would just love to hear from everybody.

Chris Pierce 15:16
You know, that's, that's what we do here, right? We listen to our members or we try to enjoy our members, we don't always get it right. But you know, we do work hard at it. And we take the responsibility seriously. So if there is an area that you're think really needs some attention to the modem, what we could do here with Dexcom, then we'd love to be able to go and talk to some of those manufacturers about other supplies or tools or devices or something.

Scott Benner 15:40
That's excellent. I told you, I wouldn't keep you long. And I think I'm gonna reach my promise by being just under 15 minutes. I genuinely appreciate you doing this, to create clarity in the diabetes community where I think there's been a lot of confusion for people. And so just to go over it one more time, uninsured or underinsured, which means my insurance doesn't cover Dexcom. I can have my prescription set electronically, I can bring it in by paper, I can go into a Costco and ask the pharmacist to get the prescription from my doctor for me. And then I can get Dexcom receivers, transmitters and sensors at a discounted price. Did I get that right, Chris?

Chris Pierce 16:19
Yes, well said,

Scott Benner 16:21
look at a Huh, look at me, I could work there for us. I'm not looking for a job. They don't try to poach me. So I can hear in your voice. You're not looking for me to work at Costco, I want to thank the sponsors on the pod Dexcom real good foods and dancing for diabetes, you can go to my on the pod.com Ford slash juice box, you can go to dexcom.com Ford slash juice box. When you go to real good foods calm and make your purchase using coupon code juicebox. You'll save 10% on your order. And of course, dancing for diabetes is the organization that helps children living with Type One Diabetes, through dance, you can check out all the sponsors and me on Facebook and Instagram, or use the links that you know have been provided for you now verbally. But if you can't remember them, it's okay. They're in the shownotes. And they're Juicebox podcast.com. I want to thank Costco for sending Chris on the show and helping to explain the new Dexcom g six program. I hope you found the information very useful. If you do, please share it with a friend or someone who you think can benefit. And I actually took Chris's advice and I went to costco.com and check out their pharmacy offerings. They have a wide array of things that you may want or need, including medications for your pets. So if you're looking for a lower cost stuff, if you don't have insurance, and you're hoping to find better prices, if you just want to get your prescriptions filled at Costco, I check it out. It's costco.com