WASHINGTON — Retail pharmacy continues to lobby to maintain its seat at the table in the continuing debate on how or whether to reform the nation’s health care system. During the recent congressional recess, some legislators held town hall/community meetings at which the local citizenry voiced their opinions on various health care proposals. But other
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal appeals court has upheld a district court ruling that approves the controversial First DataBank and Medi-Span settlements. The decision means that effective September 26, average wholesale prices (AWPs) of drugs paid to pharmacies will be reduced to 120% of the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC), a move that the National Association
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Characterizing it as a victory for patient care, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) have reached agreement with the Delaware State Department of Health and Social Services that will restore much of the funding to pharmacies that would have been lost due to rate
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Walgreen Co.’s Customer-Centric Retailing (CCR) transformation is reshaping the shopping experience to inspire consumers with choices and ideas, two of the program’s architects said at a conference here. Walgreens is still giving shoppers what they want, but with “a little bit of extra spirit and a little bit of extra inspiration,”
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Alex Grass, who opened a small health and beauty aids store in Scranton, Pa., in 1962 and built it into Rite Aid Corp., now the nation’s third-largest drug chain, died late last month. He was 82. Grass, who became a philanthropist in his later years, died from respiratory failure at his home
NEW YORK — Chain drug retailers are working to stay ahead of the game this flu season amid rising public concern about the need to get immunized, which is being driven by fears about the spread of the H1N1, or swine flu, virus. Facing the unprecedented challenge of meeting demand for both seasonal flu shots
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. recently struck a deal to offer prescription drugs directly to Caterpillar Inc. workers and retirees. The agreement marks the second such program that the heavy equipment manufacturer has made with a community pharmacy chain. A year ago Caterpillar entered into a pilot program with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to determine if
NEW YORK — Consumers are changing the way they shop for health and beauty products because of the recession, according to new research from Information Resources Inc. (IRI) and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. What is perhaps equally important, according to IRI president of consulting and innovation Thom Blischok, is that the new
In 1776 Thomas Paine wrote: “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” Those words are echoed in the current economy, reflecting a mother’s desire to shelter her children from economic hardship. To better understand how the economy has affected back-to-school (B-T-S) shopping, and for a
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Supervalu Inc. executive vice president of merchandising and marketing Duncan Mac Naughton has been elected to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores board of directors. Mac Naughton’s election to the board late last month fills a vacancy created when Kevin Tripp, executive vice president of Supervalu’s Midwest division, retired earlier this
Chain drug retailing is changing more quickly and more dramatically than at any time in recent memory. Moreover, the changes are, for the most part, strongly positive, benefiting the individual drug chains developing new directions and programs while elevating and enhancing the efforts of the entire chain drug industry as well. Here are two samples:
Retail pharmacy operators garnered a significant victory late last month when the state of Delaware agreed to rescind some of the cuts it had intended to make in reimbursements for prescriptions filled under the Medicaid program. The final act in the long-running drama, which started on April 1 when the state department of health and
