# Poll: Is This Unethical? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377 "2008-08-27T02:07:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/21 "2008-08-27T16:53:32Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] Fry’s isn’t reimbursing you. They are trying to entice you into/reward you for using their pharmacy. . [/QUOTE] Right, it’s perfectly ethical. It would get a trifle less ethical should you immediately move your 'script back to another pharmacy. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/22 "2008-08-27T17:05:41Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] It would get a trifle less ethical should you immediately move your 'script back to another pharmacy. [/QUOTE] Why, exactly? If she is unhappy with the pharmacies service, should she stay there just because they gave her a cash incentive? Is it unethical to switch credit cards in order to maintain low rates offered to new accounts? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/23 "2008-08-27T17:45:26Z")
I think it’s only ethical if $25 is a reasonable market copay. Surely, if Fry’s charged $500 to fill a prescription, but gave you a voucher for $495 worth of groceries, it would not be ethical to expect a fund set up for medical expenses to pay that $500, since the majority of it is _really_ spent on groceries. You’d effectively be incurring an additional expense on your employer for your own personal non-medical benefit. My copays are usually between $10 and $20, so I think $25 seems reasonable. If, however, all the other pharmacies charge $5, and you choose to go to Fry’s because you essentially get your employer to pay for $20 of groceries, then that’s borderline unethical. If the copay fee is not determined by Fry’s and is the same everywhere (is that how copays work?), then it’s ethical to take whatever enticement Frys is offering, because you’re not costing your employer any more money. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/24 "2008-08-27T18:12:16Z")
[QUOTE=iamthewalrus(:3=] I think it’s only ethical if $25 is a reasonable market copay. Surely, if Fry’s charged $500 to fill a prescription, but gave you a voucher for $495 worth of groceries, it would not be ethical to expect a fund set up for medical expenses to pay that $500, since the majority of it is _really_ spent on groceries. You’d effectively be incurring an additional expense on your employer for your own personal non-medical benefit. [/QUOTE] At our job, non-exempt folks get $250 towards their health reimbursement as a benefit, whether they use it or not. Exempt folks opt to put pre-tax money in. The OP’s company has already extended a benefit of up to $1500 regardless of what other deals result based on a pharmacy’s marketing ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/25 "2008-08-27T18:21:45Z")
I work in benefits and administer these kind of reimbursement plans. I say you’re perfectly fine claiming the $25, for reasons already posted. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/26 "2008-08-27T18:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=iamthewalrus(:3=] If the copay fee is not determined by Fry’s and is the same everywhere (is that how copays work?), then it’s ethical to take whatever enticement Frys is offering, because you’re not costing your employer any more money. [/QUOTE] The copay is part of the contract between your employer and the insurance company. The pharmacy has nothing to do with it, and so any place you went would cost you the same amount, and that pharmacy gets paid the same amount of money no matter who is paying them. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/27 "2008-08-27T22:54:31Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] I agree with the others. You paid your $25 in cash for the prescription. That $25 will be reimbursed by your medical plan. The fact that Fry’s gave you $20 of free groceries has nothing to do with it. [/QUOTE] Agreed. I first misread the OP - thinking that if you bought the groceries, then you’d get money credited toward the purchase price of the scrips. Then if you tried to get reimbursement for scrip money that you hadn’t actually laid out, it would be sticky. When I reread though, I realized I had it backwards. The grocery coupon has nothing to do with your prescription reimbursement. Go for the 25 bucks. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/28 "2008-08-27T23:13:04Z")
[QUOTE=Skammer] I work in benefits and administer these kind of reimbursement plans. I say you’re perfectly fine claiming the $25, for reasons already posted. [/QUOTE] Could there be a worse poster name for the subject? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/29 "2008-08-27T23:17:49Z")
Here’s how to get out of your ethical dilemma; shoplift some stuff from Fry’s. That way, you’ll _know_ you’re being bad. Dilemma solved! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377/30 "2008-08-27T23:41:22Z")
If you’re still uncomfortable, send me $25 and I’ll absorb the karmic debt for you. Not just the OP, by the way. Anyone can send me $25 any time. Or even more, I’m not picky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-unethical/461377.md?page=1)