NEW YORK — Chain drug pharmacies and pharmacists are helping Medicare beneficiaries navigate the changes in Medicare Part D. “There are substantial savings available to Medicare Part D beneficiaries this year, so it’s important they know their options to realize these benefits,” says Suzanne Hansen, group vice president of pharmacy operations at Walgreen Co. “Our
DEERFIELD, Ill. — First lady Michelle Obama toured a Walgreen Co. store on Chicago’s South Side to get an up-close look at the drug chain’s efforts to provide better food options and accessible health care to underserved communities and to fight the childhood obesity epidemic. Michelle Obama with Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson. The event was
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. is co-branding a value-focused Medicare Part D prescription drug plan (PDP) with EnvisionRx Plus. The Rite Aid EnvisionRx Plus plan offers beneficiaries no deductible and zero co-pays on more than 500 generic medications — even during the coverage gap, or so-called donut hole. Rite Aid EnvisionRx Plus was
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Of patients prescribed a new medication by their doctor, 24% did not fill the prescription, a study by CVS Caremark Corp., Harvard University, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers found. According to CVS Caremark, most prior research of patients who do not take medications as prescribed examined patient behavior after the filling
WASHINGTON — The federal government should consider cost in deciding which health benefits must be provided by insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) says. In addition, the cost of any new benefits should be offset by savings elsewhere in the health care
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has told federal regulators that it feels proposed changes to Medicaid reimbursement rates will adversely affect patients. In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) late last month the association expressed concern that the agency’s draft Federal Upper Limit (FUL) provisions
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. will stay in Express Scripts Inc.’s pharmacy network for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and has offered continued access for the pharmacy benefit manager under the Department of Defense Tricare program. Express Scripts customarily decides which pharmacies are in a health plan’s provider network, but a small
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The “super committee” seeking ways to cut the federal deficit should maintain Medicare recipients’ access to diabetes testing supplies at retail pharmacies, says National Association of Chain Drug Stores president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson. In a letter to the co-chairmen of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, Anderson
Change never comes easily, especially for a company blessed with success. Why change, the thinking goes, when what we’re doing apparently works so well? That’s been Walgreens’ dilemma. Very few retailers, and no drug chains, have enjoyed the success Walgreens has found over the past 30 years. During that time the company’s sales have advanced
It’s time for people in the chain drug industry to take another look at Rite Aid, whose long, painful turnaround has started to gain traction in recent months. For more than a decade the company has been widely viewed as something of an invalid, a status that resulted from self-inflicted wounds. Financial irregularities in the
TORONTO — After an international search that lasted seven months, Shoppers Drug Mart’s board announced that the company’s new president and chief executive officer will be a Canadian and from the pharmaceutical industry, though not himself a pharmacist. Domenic Pilla is to take office November 1. He is currently president of McKesson Canada. Pilla will
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius drove home the point about the importance of getting a flu vaccination this season by receiving her annual shot at Walgreen Co.’s health and daily living pilot store in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood earlier this month. “It’s very exciting to see stores like these built
NEW YORK — Rite Aid Corp. executives this month highlighted factors pointing to a continued turnaround at the chain, from loyalty program growth to lower-volume store improvements. The retailer is poised to build on three straight quarters of growth in same-store sales and adjusted EBITDA, the executives suggested at the Imperial Capital Global Opportunities Conference
NEW YORK — Walgreen Co., CVS Caremark Corp. and Walmart are partnering with insurance companies on Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs). Walgreens and Walmart are partnering with Coventry Health Care Inc., while CVS has teamed with Aetna. Walmart also again has a plan with Humana. Coventry is joining with Walgreens, Walmart and Target
