Articles from the CDR print editions. Limit this selection to a specific issue by selecting from BACK ISSUES & CATEGORIES.
NEW YORK — As Medicare recipients continue to explore the various prescription drug plans (PDPs) available, community pharmacies across the country are helping beneficiaries understand their options. “This year there are substantial savings available to beneficiaries in Medicare Part D, so it’s important they learn as much as possible about their options to realize these
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Three years after a federal judge blocked the government from lowering Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement rates, the issue will be officially over this month. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule last month, which will withdraw provisions of the Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement formula under the average manufacturer price
DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health Inc. plans to acquire Kinray Inc. for $1.3 billion and has completed a $470 million purchase of Yong Yu, the largest drug importer in China. The Kinray deal will significantly expand the No. 2 pharmaceutical distributor’s ability to serve independent pharmacies in the Northeast, while the Yong Yu acquisition gives
TORONTO — Speakers at the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy’s recent forum here weighed in on whether the recent shift in the Canadian pharmacy paradigm was merely a tremor or a seismic shift. The question that the speakers were asked to address grew out of changes in the way some provincial governments’ public drug plans compensate
MINNETONKA, Minn. — Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc. are participating in a new UnitedHealthcare Medicare Part D plan offering drugs for as little as $2 per prescription and promising to save members hundreds of dollars next year. The introduction follows the debut of a plan by Walmart and Humana Inc. described as the lowest-price option
NEW YORK — An increased number of shoppers are turning to the Internet this holiday season, and initial reports are that they are responding to promotions and spending more. According to Coremetrics, a research firm that tracks online sales, Internet shoppers spent 20% more on the Monday after Thanksgiving — the shopping day known as
TORONTO — A proposed class-action lawsuit claiming Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) collected excessive funds from franchisees is baseless, the company says. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice notified the retailer last month that two owner-operators allege SDM has breached its agreement with them by collecting, receiving and/or retaining more funds and/or benefits than permitted by
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — Steven Collis has been named president and chief operating officer of AmerisourceBergen Corp. The 49-year-old Collis had been executive vice president of the drug distributor and president of AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. (ABDC), the company’s largest subsidiary. Prior to that he was president of AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group (ABSG). He continues to report
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A CVS Caremark Corp.-sponsored study found that patients who face co-pays of $50 are almost four times more likely to abandon prescriptions at a pharmacy than those paying $10. Besides determining that a direct correlation exists between the amount of a patient’s out-of-pocket co-pay and the likely abandonment of a prescription, the
CHICAGO — Walgreen Co. is ideally positioned for “the retailization of health care,” president and chief executive officer Greg Wasson said at the company’s Analyst Day conference. Patients are turning into shoppers when it comes to their care, he said, and Walgreens is at the intersection of the retail and health care industries. To fully
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Community pharmacy groups won a major victory earlier this month in their continuing battle to stem reductions in pharmacy reimbursement. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a final rule that withdraws provisions of the Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement formula under the average manufacturer price (AMP) model. The National Association
SEATTLE — A move by Washington state officials that could result in the loss of prescription drug benefits for about 500,000 adults whose prescriptions are covered by Medicaid has been described as a “perilous situation” by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. NACDS is working with its members and other allies to develop and
ELMSFORD, N.Y. — Richard Smith has been promoted from president and chief operating officer to chief executive officer at BioScrip Inc. Plans call for Smith to take the chief executive reins at the pharmacy operator January 1. He will replace current chairman and chief executive officer Richard Friedman, who will step down as chief executive
NEW YORK — Same-store sales growth has been hard to come by for the nation’s largest pharmacy chains of late, but business prospects for mass retailing overall look a bit brighter heading into the holidays. Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. both saw declines in comparable-store sales for October. CVS Caremark Corp., which doesn’t report
