A small but growing number of cash-only pharmacies are hoping to save people money on their prescriptions by not taking insurance.

“The two main things that cash pharmacies are doing are giving patients a lower cost, and giving patients transparency that they don't feel like they have elsewhere,” said Tim Epple, managing director at Avalere Health.

Mark Cuban's Cost Plus drug company is one example of this that launched this year.

More local pharmacies across the country are also starting to take a more cash-based approach.

“There are examples where products going through insurance can be, you know, still in the hundreds, if not the low thousands of dollars, where, through a cash pharmacy, might be $15 or $20 for a 30-day supply,” said Epple.

Pharmacies sell generic medications at the price they pay for them and add on a dispensing and shipping fee that they tell you about ahead of time.

This is different from not paying with insurance at a normal pharmacy because you may not get the same price benefit.

“There's always been a little bit of a black box around how pharmacies work, how drugs are priced, how patients get to them. Like as more patients learn out the model and seek to find out, that will, I think, incentivize more pharmacies to make that switch

The model is dependent on generic drugs.

So more of them need to be available for cash pharmacies to expand.

Private health insurers will soon be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for those on their plans starting Saturday, the White House Office of COVID-19 Response confirmed during a press briefing Wednesday.

The Biden administration announced the change Monday as it looks to lower costs and make testing for the virus more convenient amid high frustrations. Under the new policy, Americans will be able to either obtain home testing kits for free or purchase them and then submit receipts for the tests for subsequent reimbursement, up to the monthly per-person limit.

A family of four, for instance, could be reimbursed for up to 32 tests over-the-counter tests per month. Only tests purchased on or after Jan. 15 will be required to be reimbursed.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Monday news release that the administration is "requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost."

During a White House press briefing on Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki said that the Biden administration plans to begin to have free coronavirus tests available to Americans and "out the door in the coming weeks," she said. Psaki continued elaborating on the delay up until now saying "the contracts [for testing companies] are structured in a way to require that significant amounts are delivered on an aggressive timeline, the first of which should be arriving early next week."

As NPR reported, the Biden administration says it is working to incentivize insurers, along with group health plans, to try and get over-the-counter PCR and rapid tests from preferred pharmacies and other retailers into the hands of Americans with no out-of-pocket costs incurring.

CINCINNATI —

Brand new COVID-19 vaccine shipments are heading to pharmacies in our area starting next week.

It's part of a federal goal to administer up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine a month.

CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, just a few that are included in the Biden administration's effort.

On top of current shipments the state has been getting, Ohio will receive 30,000 to 40,000 more shots per week, according to Hamilton County Public Health Officials

Kroger and Rite Aid are on track to receive them first, with more pharmacy locations added as days go on.

State Sen. Niraj Antani (R) District 6 serves on Ohio's Health Committee.

"At some point, there will be so many vaccines and so many people wanting to be vaccinated, there will not be enough people in one day to meet that demand," Antani said.

He thinks as shipments continue to roll in, pharmacists will need more help.

"There simply will need to be more people doing the actual vaccinating, so at that point, I think we should consider you know, utilizing our national guard who are there for purposes like this," Antani said.

Starting Monday, Ohio will begin vaccinating people ages 65 and older.

Hamilton County Health officials suggest checking in with pharmacy locations next week to see when appointments are available.

If you live in Hamilton County, you can do so by clicking here.

NORWOOD, Ohio — A CVS customer claims pharmacy employees admitted to throwing away leftover COVID-19 vaccines. The company is hearing a different story from the store's managers but did say that in rare cases, some vaccine doses get trashed.

Matt Moning called it "plain stupidity."

He visited the CVS on Montgomery Road in Norwood on Saturday, when he brought an 80-year-old neighbor to get her coronavirus vaccine. As he waited inside, curiosity over the end-of-the-day leftovers led to frustration.

"I have diabetes, high blood pressure. I'm just a medical mess," he told WCPO. "I figured, well if you don't have an 80-year-old or 70-year-old standing here, I said, you know, will you call me and give me the shot so you don't throw it away?"

Moning said he was surprised by the employee's response.

"He says, 'You know, even if I had it, I wouldn't give it to you,'" Moning said.

In a statement, CVS told WCPO: "We have no reports or evidence of vaccine being improperly disposed of at our pharmacies. Our pharmacy teams remain diligent and trained to ensure waste is prevented and excess doses do not remain at the end of the day. In the rare instance that unused doses become no longer clinically viable and cannot be refrozen, they are either utilized elsewhere for a member of an eligible population or disposed of per (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and manufacturer guidelines."

Dominic Hopson is an assistant health commissioner for the Cincinnati Health Department. He agreed that waste of COVID-19 vaccine doses is rare.

"We're very proud of that. We have a strong system in place," he said. "It's difficult, but it takes a lot of planning.

CHD counts doses, calls eligible patients on waitlists, and, as a fall-back, calls first responders who still need the vaccine. CVS lacks the same access to police, fire fighters or paramedics and insists they are following all the rules.

"That's government red tape at its best," Moning said. "My thing is, we live in the greatest nation in the world, and they can't figure out how to give a shot? It's pretty easy. If you know you're going to open a vial at four o'clock, you make sure that you got five people lined up to give that shot to."

Several CVS stores across Ohio will be getting extra doses of the vaccines soon, a company spokesperson said Friday. It will be coming from nursing homes that did not use all of their allotment.

Pharmacies around the United States are preparing to administer about a million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that officials say can help in the fight against the virus.

Beginning Friday, Americans who meet their state's eligibility guidelines can receive vaccines in 6,500 CVS, Walmart, Walgreens and Rite Aid locations. The doses are in addition to the allocation that has gone out to states — which many local officials have said does not yet meet their demand.

The number of vaccinations has been on the rise each week. As of Thursday, nearly 46.4 million doses of the vaccines had been administered in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Right now, those eligible have been largely limited to the elderly, healthcare workers and people most vulnerable due to comorbidities.

But by April, that access could expand to the more general public, and most Americans could be inoculated by the middle or end of summer, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC's "Today" show.

In just the next 30 days, the National Association of Drug Stores hopes pharmacies will administer more than 100 million doses.

The upswing in vaccinations is happening amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus variants. And one key question is whether the vaccines will work on the variants.

So far, at least 997 cases of COVID-19 variants, first detected in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, have been reported in the U.S., according to CDC data.

Dr. Barney Graham, chief of the lab and Deputy Director of the Vaccine Research Center at NIH, told President Joe Biden on Thursday that the antibodies vaccines make against the virus can still attack it, even if the virus has undergone some mutations.

"Antibodies have a lot of places to bind. It may eventually lose efficacy, but I think we are OK for now until additional mutations are accumulated," Graham said.

Vaccinations picking up the pace

Since the first shot on Dec. 14, the average daily rate of coronavirus vaccine administrations in the U.S. has been increasing each week.

An average of 359,000 doses given each day the first week of January has grown to about 1.6 million doses a day this week.

And the pace should ramp up further in March and April, allowing a broader segment of the population to become eligible, Fauci said.

"I would imagine by the time we get to April, that will be what I would call for, you know, for better wording, open season," Fauci said. "Namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated."

Pfizer and Moderna, the two companies currently with authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., have both begun trials for children — starting with older age groups. By September, vaccines could be authorized for young children, Fauci told ProPublica on Thursday.

Biden, for his part, said Thursday the U.S. is on track to have vaccine supply for 300 million Americans "by the end of July."

"Within three weeks, 'round the clock work with so many people standing behind me and in front of me, we've now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans, and now we're working to get those vaccines into the arms of millions of people," Biden said during a speech at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Biden also announced that the U.S. has purchased additional Moderna and Pfizer vaccine.

And Johnson & Johnson would add to the country's supply if the Food and Drug Administration authorizes its one-dose vaccine. The company has said it could provide 20 million to 30 million doses by the end of April if the authorization comes.

States loosen their coronavirus restrictions

Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been dropping following surges around the holidays; and as they do, some states are dropping their restrictions.

Nevada will begin a new plan next week aimed at phasing-out statewide rules against gatherings by May 1. Starting Monday, most businesses and houses of worship will be able to have up to 100 people, or 35% of normal capacity. If coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to decrease, capacity would go up to 50% on March 15.

"If we all want to see this transition to local control, let's work together to continue decreasing our community transmission," Gov. Steve Sisolak said Thursday.

Indoor gathering limitations in Wyoming will be increased to 25% of capacity or 500 people Monday, and limits on sporting events, artistic performances, restaurants and gyms will be eased, Gov. Mark Gordon said.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill on Wednesday shielding businesses and houses of worship from legal liability for COVID-19 transmission as long as they take measures to follow public health guidelines and announced he would not extend the statewide mask mandate.

"The mask mandate will expire on Friday," the governor said, adding, "Since we're not out of the woods yet, I will continue to wear a mask, and I will encourage all Montanans to do the same."

Though numbers have improved, health experts have warned that precautions are still important to keep the spread of more transmissible variants limited.

Nursing homes with more Black residents report more coronavirus deaths

Meanwhile, a new study reveals that the impact of the pandemic have been disproportionately higher for Black and Latino populations in the U.S.

Researchers for the study in the journal JAMA Network Open noted that nursing homes with more White residents had better resident health, higher star ratings, more nursing hours, and were located in counties with fewer coronavirus cases per capita.

And they found that the average number of coronavirus deaths was more than three times higher in nursing homes with the highest proportion of Black residents compared to those with the highest proportion of White residents.

To help stem future outbreaks, the researchers suggest that resources should be focused on supporting nursing homes with more non-White residents.