Kroger pharmacy customers who paid for prescriptions with insurance have until December 21, 2026 to file a claim in a $17 million class-action settlement over the chain’s Savings Club discount prices. The case, Kirkbride v. The Kroger Co., is pending in federal court in the Southern District of Ohio. The money is divided by how much each claimant paid at the counter.
The Savings Club pricing dispute behind the payout
The plaintiffs allege that Kroger inflated its “usual and customary” prescription prices by leaving its Savings Club prices out of the figure. The plaintiffs say insured customers ended up paying too much for prescription drugs as a result. The claims include fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.
Kroger denies wrongdoing. It says Savings Club prices, which require an annual fee and other terms, are not its “usual” or “customary” prices. The case settled with no finding of liability, and the notice says Kroger agreed to pay $17,000,000 into a fund before fees and costs come out.
Who is in the class
The class covers individuals in the United States and its territories who paid, in whole or in part, for one or more prescription drugs from Kroger using their insurance. The class period runs from December 9, 2018 through August 23, 2026. A partial payment such as a copay counts.
Anyone who filled an insured prescription at a Kroger pharmacy in those years, even once, falls inside the definition, and the deadline that governs them is December 21. The October 22 date to opt out or object has passed, so the claim form is the step still open. Claims are filed on the administrator’s settlement website.
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Some people are excluded: the judges on the case and their staff, Kroger’s officers and directors, and its affiliates. So are people who validly opted out and people who separately sued or settled with Kroger over Savings Club pricing. A customer who had a prescription filled at Kroger without using insurance is outside the definition.
The $8,000 line for proof
Claims totaling $8,000 or more require documentation of the prescription payments made to Kroger during the class period. The line is set on the claim total, not on the number of prescriptions, so it reaches only claimants whose combined payments are large.
Claims under $8,000 need documentation only if the claimant is not on the administrator’s list of known purchasers. Those claimants will be contacted and asked to provide it. The claim form itself must be completed, signed and submitted by the December 21 deadline, with documents attached if they are required.
The administrator, Angeion Group, keeps a list of known purchasers, and that list decides who gets the lighter treatment. The heaviest proof burden falls on claimants who are not on it and on those claiming large totals.
How the money gets divided
Payments are pro rata. Each claimant’s recognized claim, meaning what they paid in whole or in part for insured Kroger prescriptions, is divided by the total recognized claims of all authorized claimants, then multiplied by the Net Settlement Fund. Taxes, tax expenses and escrow fees may be deducted.
The Net Settlement Fund is what remains after court-approved costs. Class counsel, led by Joseph I. Marchese and Andrew Obergfell of Bursor & Fisher, plans to ask for fees of up to one-third of the $17 million, costs up to $610,325.71 and service awards of up to $5,000 per named plaintiff. A motion making that request was filed on October 6, 2026.
The notice states no minimum payment and no per-person estimate, and it does not say whether money arrives by check or electronic transfer. Because each share depends on total participation, the final amount cannot be known before the claim deadline and the court’s approval.
The settlement site also posts the Settlement Agreement, the Plan of Allocation, the Preliminary Approval Order and the order granting class certification, along with an amended order dated June 25, 2026. Anyone who wants the allocation formula in full can find it in the Plan of Allocation.
The January 11 hearing and the wait
The January 11, 2027 date listed beside the claim deadline on the settlement site is the fairness hearing. The long-form notice names Judge Algenon L. Marbley and sets 10:00 a.m. at the U.S. Courthouse in Columbus, Ohio, where the court decides whether to approve the settlement, the allocation plan and the fee request.
The notice says the date and time may change, and an October 2, 2026 order reassigning the case to a new judge is posted on the site. It also says the first distribution is due within 120 days after the settlement’s effective date, and that an appeal of final approval could delay payments for years. A claim filed in December therefore starts a wait of at least several months.
Scammers copy settlement notices. The FTC’s refunds hub warns that real settlements never ask claimants to pay anything to receive money. Filing here is free, and the administrator’s published contact is (888) 535-4262 or info@krogersavingsclubsettlement.com, which are the details the long-form notice lists.
Filled prescriptions at Kroger for years?
The December 21 date is firm, and the notice says the final amount depends on how many people file. Claimants who cannot say how much they paid, or who sit near the $8,000 documentation line, are the ones who lose time hunting for records.
The Money Owed to You Bundle includes Open Settlements: How to File, which covers the four-date rule, the two claim tiers and proof without receipts, plus the Claim It Checklist with its filing checklist and scam stop-list. Both are built for exactly this kind of insured-purchase claim.
Pull together the Kroger claim with the open-settlements guide and filing checklist →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
