Posted on 07/13/2011 8:13:29 AM PDT by GailA
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens said Tuesday that after several months of negotiations it has failed to reach a contract agreement with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, and as a result the drug chain will drop the Express Scripts network as of Dec. 31, 2011.
At issue in the negotiations were clear terms of the agreement and unacceptable reimbursement rates that Walgreens said was below the industry average cost especially for Department of Defense Tricare program beneficiaries that Express Scripts manages.
(Excerpt) Read more at supermarketnews.com ...
I had to drop Express Scripts when they wouldn’t mail order my meds because TriCare was no longer my primary insurer (got a new job)
WTF, over?
Be Sure this gets passed on to your Military friends.
I personally will be boycotting Walgreen’s. We are retired Navy. This is just the first shoe to drop in 0’care. As each new drug store’s chain comes up for contract renewal they too will be dropping Tricare.
For those of you not familiar with Tricare it is the secondary ins for over 65 retired Military, and it covers the medicines we take as well as the doctor and hospital costs after Medicare.
Remember please that Tricare is administered out of the Medicare offices.
Walgreens to Drop TRICARE?
military.com/military-report/walgreens-to-drop-tricare
It was the other way around with my plan, which dropped Walgreens.
I used my card for the first time a few days ago at CVS. Will CVS be unable to work a contract out too? Now that we are older, we will need that card. Just crap on Zero!
I’ve hated Walgreens ever since I showed up to get insulin syringes for my wife (who is insulin dependant), who ran short Friday later afternoon.
It’s a non-prescription item in the state (as are all needles, for that matter.)
The fat lady pharmacist refused to sell them, stating it was a company policy to fil them without the prescription filled in the store.
I had to drive, on the Sabbath, 30 miles to a 24 hour CVS.
Pissed me off.
IF the scuttle butt I’m hearing is truth, Express Scripts is offering the drug stores half pennies on the $1 for RX’s, they want you to mail order from them single provider plan...generics only are their preferred choices. And if you need one of the ‘flagged’ needs prior approval drugs, they make you jump through 10 hoops to get it approved, besides going through your US Senator.
It will work for now, until their contract with Express Scripts runs out. ES is the villain in this 0’care problem. As each big chain’s contract with ES runs out, they too will drop Tricare. Then you can start adding in doctors and hospitals.
Remember there was a $8 TRILLION gut over 20 years to Medicare under 0’care...per the WSJ.
Tricare is admined out of Medicare.
The company I work for uses Express Scripts. They both $uck.
It sounds more like a business decision, than one against the military. The payor--in this case, the government--is welching on paying a reasonable and customary charge.
Why boycott the pharmacy. The government wants them to provide your medicines for a loss or pennies. When you live off the government you get what they say you get. So far they have not got the power the force others to provide it to you for free. I see Medicare patients being in a very bad place in a few years. There will be few providers to provide all that “FREE” health care.
OTOH Walgreens markups are pretty high.
GailA: “I personally will be boycotting Walgreen’s.”
I’m a retiree, and I’ll support Walgreens even more. They are in business to make money, not lose it by selling stuff at a loss. This might be a good time to pick up some of their stock.
If you want to blame someone, blame the idiots in DC. You see, they keep making promises they can’t deliver. Oh, we’ll still have Tricare, just good luck finding anyone willing to take it. Tricare reimbursement rates are a JOKE.
Agreed. It seems the government not only wants to force citizens to donate at gunpoint to whatever charity the Powers That Be decide on, they want businesses to donate-by-force as well. Pity, Walgreens was one of the few companies that set themselves up to succeed during the recession.
“When you live off the government you get what they say you get.”
TriCare is a program for military retirees and their dependents, I would hardly categorize them as “living off the government.” They paid with both their service to this country and their hard earned money for the benefits of TriCare.
Obamacare is an abomination.
Walgreen no longer accepts Tricare for perscription coverage. Will CVS and Rite Aid follow?
The whole idea of tricare was just an excuse to cut base hospitals anyway. In the old days, the deal was that a lifer had rights to any base hospital... of any service... that he could get to. THAT was your health care. Not covering costs of civilian doctors, etc. Your wife is sick? Drive her to the base. It was cheap, and it didn’t promise the world. Now we’ve replaced it with tricare, and I’ll bet you it costs more tax money than the old system.
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