Does CVS overcharge some customers for generics?

That’s the allegation made in a potential class action lawsuit that claims CVS deliberately overcharged some customers for generic drugs by submitting claims to their insurance companies at inflated prices.

The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court in San Francisco, claims the inflated prices forced some customers to pay higher co-payments than they would have if they purchased the same drugs with no insurance through the chain’s discount program.

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"We've seen people who pay $20 for a 30-day supply as their copayments on a drug that was $11.99 for a 90-day supply had they been in the (CVS discount program)," attorney Kristen Broz told the Associated Press.

CVS Health spokesman Michael DeAngelis said co-payments are determined by a patient's prescription insurance coverage. He noted that a similar lawsuit in Massachusetts was dismissed.

Broz said that thousands of customers might have been overcharged for generics since 2008. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, class-action status, and an injunction prohibiting CVS from continuing the pricing practice.

CVS’ Health Saving Pass (HSP) offers discounts on certain generics. The lawsuit claims that CVS charges insurance companies higher prices for customers not enrolled in the Health Saving Pass, which forces those customers to pay higher co-payments.

"Not only was the HSP program a means by which CVS could maintain and increase its market share by fending off discounted prices from its competitors, but importantly, CVS also intended that the HSP program would serve as a mechanism to hide CVS's true usual and customary prices from third-party payors," the lawsuit reads.