New Duluth, Minn., pharmacy severs ties to all insurance companies.

By Peter Passi, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 11--You can question Sean Kacsir's business judgment, but not his chutzpah.

It takes guts for a pharmacy to sever all ties to insurance companies at a time when insurers have their hands in about 90 percent of all prescription drug transactions.

Yet Kacsir, president of MedSave Discount Pharmacy, did just that earlier this week by opening Duluth, Minn.'s first cash-only drugstore.

His business at 210 N. Sixth Ave. E., formerly part of the Medicine Shoppe chain, no longer will wrestle with insurance forms or wait weeks for claims to be processed. Kacsir said the upshot for customers will be lower prices, particularly for generic drugs.

The new business model has enabled Kacsir to slash his pharmacy's operating costs by about 50 percent. The store operates with a fraction of the …

New Duluth, Minn., pharmacy severs ties to all insurance companies.

By Peter Passi, Duluth News-Tribune, Minn. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 11--You can question Sean Kacsir's business judgment, but not his chutzpah.

It takes guts for a pharmacy to sever all ties to insurance companies at a time when insurers have their hands in about 90 percent of all prescription drug transactions.

Yet Kacsir, president of MedSave Discount Pharmacy, did just that earlier this week by opening Duluth, Minn.'s first cash-only drugstore.

His business at 210 N. Sixth Ave. E., formerly part of the Medicine Shoppe chain, no longer will wrestle with insurance forms or wait weeks for claims to be processed. Kacsir said the upshot for customers will be lower prices, particularly for generic drugs.

The new business model has enabled Kacsir to slash his pharmacy's operating costs by about 50 percent. The store operates with a fraction of the …