Media Credit: Erik Castro Austin pharmacist and owner of MedSavers Pharmacy, Chris W. Johnson, offers generic medication at low prices for people who lack health insurance or whose plans lack prescription drug coverage. "Since MedSavers doesn´t deal with insurance companies, we can make a reasonable profit without charging exorbitant prices," said Johnson, seen counting out a prescription for generic Prozac.

After working in more than 80 pharmacies, Chris Johnson understood the reasons behind the high cost of medicine and saw a way around them.

Johnson, a 1995 UT pharmacy alumnus, announced Tuesday the initial success of his month-old brainchild, the all-generic MedSavers Pharmacy.

Johnson's idea was to provide low-cost generic drugs to patients who don't have health insurance or whose plans don't cover the rising costs of prescription drugs.

According to 2003 U.S. Census Bureau data, 25 percent of Texans have no health insurance, and those seeking insurance are often deceived. Earlier this month, Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor cracked down on unauthorized, fraudulent health plans that capitalize on Texans' lack of insurance.

"People out there who need the help most are actually getting the least amount of help," Johnson said.

Johnson said he sees new hope in independent pharmacies focusing on generics for people without insurance.

With the emergence of HMOs in the 1980s, Johnson said he watched drug costs rise. He said most retail pharmacies have contracts with insurance companies that require them to stock high-priced prescription drugs, which can result in financial losses.

To make up the difference, retail pharmacies deflect the cost onto their generic products, Johnson said.

Besides the amount saved by not stocking expensive prescription drugs, Johnson said MedSavers saves by not communicating with insurance companies.

"Eighty percent of the phone time spent in an average retail pharmacy out there is spent dealing with insurance problems," Johnson said.

Johnson said removing this step gives him more time to connect with his customers.

"We're improving compliance with the patient," Johnson said. "The more information you have, the more compliant you're going to be, because you know the ramifications of taking medicine improperly."

Betty Pecore, a 71-year-old MedSavers customer, said the pharmacy provided her with medicine at one-third the cost she was previously paying. Pecore, a Social Security and Medicare recipient, is now taking generic medicine for blood pressure, her thyroid, migraines and joint pain.

In the past, Pecore said she has had trouble with generic medicine.

"It was like taking nothing," Pecore said of some generic thyroid medicine she had experimented with.

For now, Pecore said her medicine is working well.

"I've been taking them for about a week, and so far everything is fine," she said.

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