Content about Express Scripts

NEW YORK — Bloomberg on Friday reported that Express Scripts intends to inform the Federal Trade Commission that the company has delivered all the data requested regarding its purchase of Medco Health Solutions on Friday, which will trigger a 30-day period for a decision from the FTC.

Express Scripts declined to comment for the story, Bloomberg added.

Apparently, there’s life after Express Scripts.

Walgreens took its lumps in January after failing to mend its very public rift with pharmacy benefit management giant Express Scripts, reporting a 2.3% drop in sales for the month. But considering that the PBM’s millions of customers represented $5.3 billion in prescription sales for the 7,818-store drug chain in fiscal 2011, it could have been worse.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Walgreens is helping to redefine what it means to be a successful retail pharmacy operator. The proof is in this new direction that Walgreens is taking — approaching employers and payers with a comprehensive, cost-lowering strategy across that company's entire health spend, not just their prescription spend.

Will the merger of Express Scripts and Medco go through? Not if pharmacy lobbyists can stop it. There’s nothing new about the fact that different industry groups connected with retail pharmacy or health care can hold strongly opposing views about what’s good or profitable for their own members. But for undisguised hostility and tit-for-tat charges and countercharges, nothing comes close to the long-running feud between independent pharmacy and the pharmacy benefits management industry.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Within the first week of 2012, Walgreens signed 125,000 patients to its Prescription Savings Club. By the second week, that number had blossomed to 200,000 patients and subsequently exploded to 500,000 new signees by the middle of week No. 4. You don't need a math whiz with a degree in economics to chart the direction this is headed.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — In its battle with Express Scripts, Walgreens is not only seeking to retain that prescription base payer by payer, but also patient by patient, as evidenced by the more than 500,000 customers who have taken advantage of Walgreens' Prescription Savings Club since Jan. 1, according to company officials.

On Jan. 1, Walgreens’ contract with Express Scripts expired, and millions of Walgreens customers covered by ESI were forced to either move their pharmacy business or come up with some other way to stick with Walgreens. Drug Store News interviewed Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson on what the company is doing to hold on to those customers and how it is appealing to payers.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — It couldn't have been choreographed better if Bob Fosse himself had orchestrated Walgreens' annual shareholders' meeting. It started on Monday, Jan. 9, when Walgreens' executive team entertained reporters to unveil the latest flagship location on State and Randolph. That evening, Illinois governor Pat Quinn and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel stood with flagship architect Joe Magnacca and officially christened the new store before Tuesday's grand opening.

CHICAGO — One day before Walgreens hosted its 2012 annual shareholder meeting here Wednesday afternoon, the chain showcased its latest flagship store to its hometown crowd. It was Jordanesque — Chicago knows what a championship team looks like, the Cubs notwithstanding — and even as Walgreens stares down its Express Scripts counterparts across the field, the head office made one thing perfectly clear to Chicago and its shareholders: Walgreens no longer is on a path to own well; it's on a path to dominate well.

LOS ANGELES and WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business from Health Net for approximately $160 million in cash.

The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2012, subject to customary closing conditions and applicable regulatory approvals, including approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

WASHINGTON — RetireSafe, a 400,000-supporter strong grassroots organization that advocates and educates on behalf of America's seniors on issues regarding Social Security, Medicare, health and financial well-being, on Friday issued a press release urging Express Scripts to return to the negotiating table and come to an agreement with Walgreens.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Thursday reported an approximate 150 basis-point negative impact on prescriptions filled based on prescription transfers, and other trend analysis of prescriptions managed by Express Scripts, as the chain posted its first monthly earnings statement following the discontinuation of Walgreens' relationship with Express Scripts. That represents an increase from a 110 basis-point impact in November, but falls short of the 200 basis-point impact projected by Credit Suisse research analyst Ed Kelly earlier this week.