Published
April 2, 2026
Updated
September 6, 2026
Insured Kroger pharmacy customers learned in March 2026 that Kroger had agreed to pay $17 million to resolve claims it inflated the usual and customary prices it reported for prescriptions. The Court has since granted preliminary approval, and claims close December 21, 2026.
The claims process has since opened. Claim Forms are due December 21, 2026, and anyone who paid for a prescription at a Kroger-owned pharmacy using insurance since December 9, 2018 can file. For eligibility, the documentation requirements and how to file, see OpenClassActions.com's full settlement page: Kroger $17M Prescription Drug Pricing Settlement.
What Is This Settlement About?
The lawsuit, Kirkbride et al. v. The Kroger Co., alleges that Kroger reported inflated "usual and customary" prices for prescription drugs to insurance companies. When an insured customer fills a prescription, the insurance company uses the pharmacy's reported usual and customary price to calculate how much the customer owes as a copay. The lower the pharmacy's reported price, the lower the customer's copay.The plaintiffs allege that Kroger had a separate discount program -- the Rx Savings Club -- that offered lower prices to cash-paying customers. But instead of reporting those lower prices as its usual and customary prices, Kroger allegedly reported its higher retail prices. The result: insured customers paid higher copays than they should have, because the copay was calculated based on an inflated number.
The lawsuit asserts claims for fraud, unjust enrichment, and negligent misrepresentation. Kroger denies all allegations but agreed to settle to avoid the cost and uncertainty of continued litigation. Plaintiffs' experts identified overcharges across a dataset of over 158 million pharmacy transactions from Kroger's own records.
Status
Preliminary approval granted
Reported here at the proposed stage, March 2026
Settlement Fund
$17 million
Non-reversionary — unclaimed money does not return to Kroger
Can I Claim?
Yes — claims close December 21, 2026
File on the settlement page, not on this news report
What Has Changed Since March 2026
The Court granted preliminary approval, Angeion Group was appointed Settlement Administrator, and the official claims process opened at krogersavingsclubsettlement.com. The class period was carried forward to August 23, 2026, so recent prescriptions count, not only older ones. The exclusion and objection deadline is October 22, 2026.Nothing is paid automatically — the notice states that submitting a valid Claim Form is the only way to receive a payment, and a Notice ID and Confirmation Code are required to file online. For the current eligibility rules, the documentation requirements, and how the pro rata payment is calculated, see our full settlement page: Kroger $17M Prescription Drug Pricing Settlement.
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Who Qualifies?
The Settlement Class covers anyone who paid in whole or in part for one or more prescription drugs from a Kroger pharmacy using insurance between December 9, 2018 and August 23, 2026. An ordinary copay is enough to qualify, and there is no residency requirement and no requirement that a class member ever joined the Savings Club.Kroger operates pharmacies under multiple banners, including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, Smith's, Dillons, Pay-Less, and others. If your pharmacy was part of the Kroger family and you used insurance to pay for prescriptions, the settlement could apply to you.
How Much Could Each Person Get?
No per-person figure has been published. Payments are calculated pro rata, so a class member's share depends on how much they were overcharged relative to everyone else who files.The $17 million fund is non-reversionary, meaning unclaimed money does not go back to Kroger. Deducted from it first, subject to Court approval, are attorneys' fees of up to one third of the fund, out-of-pocket costs and expenses of up to $610,325.71 plus interest, service awards of up to $5,000 to each named Plaintiff, and notice and administration expenses. What remains is the Net Settlement Fund.
The class is large — Kroger is one of the biggest pharmacy operators in the country and the dataset covers 158 million transactions — so individual payments may be small. The current Plan of Allocation on the official settlement website governs, and it remains subject to change until the Court approves it.
What Happens Next
A Fairness Hearing is scheduled for January 11, 2027 at 10:00 a.m. EST before Judge Algenon L. Marbley in Columbus, Ohio, where the Court decides whether to grant final approval. A hearing being held is not the same as approval being granted, and approval is not the same as payment.The notice states that the initial distribution of the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated within 120 days after the Effective Date, which arrives only after final approval and the resolution of any appeals — and it cautions that an appeal could take several years. No payment date has been announced as of September 6, 2026.
Anyone who wants to file should do so on the settlement page rather than here: Kroger $17M Prescription Drug Pricing Settlement, which carries the current eligibility rules, the documentation thresholds, and the deadlines.
Sources
• Motion for Preliminary Approval, Kirkbride et al. v. The Kroger Co., No. 2:21-cv-00022 (S.D. Ohio, filed March 13, 2026)• Official Settlement Website
• Official Long-Form Notice (PDF)
• OCA: Kroger $17M Prescription Drug Pricing Settlement (claims and filing instructions)
About This Article
This is a news report published April 2, 2026, when Kroger's $17 million settlement had been proposed but not yet preliminarily approved. It has been updated to reflect that the Court granted preliminary approval and that claims are open through December 21, 2026; the filing instructions live on OpenClassActions.com's Kroger settlement page. OpenClassActions.com is a consumer advocacy and class action news site, and is not a class action administrator or a law firm.
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Status
Preliminary approval granted
Case Title
Kirkbride et al. v. The Kroger Co.
Case Number
2:21-cv-00022
Court
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio
Settlement Fund
$17,000,000
Administrator
Angeion Group
Final Approval Hearing
January 11, 2027 at 10:00 AM EST
Before Judge Algenon L. Marbley in Columbus, Ohio
Claim Deadline
December 21, 2026
File on the settlement page
