Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2011 – A dispute between Walgreens and a TRICARE contractor will not stop beneficiaries from getting their prescriptions filled, despite a Walgreen’s ad campaign to the contrary, a TRICARE official said today. Don’t let that advertising, letter and Internet outreach campaign scare you, Navy Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, deputy director of the TRICARE Management Activity, said. Even if contract renewal negotiations fall through and Walgreens drops out of TRICARE’s retail pharmacy network on Jan. 1, beneficiaries still will have plenty of other options for getting their prescriptions filled. Hunter called the dispute between Walgreens and Express Scripts,...

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.