Content about Express Scripts

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is calling on Congress to scrutinize the proposed merger of pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts and Medco and, in a letter submitted Friday to the House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, outlined the “problems” it believes would result from the mega-merger.

The House panel held a hearing Friday titled “Health Care Industry Consolidation.”

PHILADELPHIA — Bills proposed in Pennsylvania's state legislature would allow patients to have their prescriptions filled through mail-order and at community pharmacies for the same price.

House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 211, which promoters said are designed to give a "booster shot" to local pharmacies and save jobs, are the latest episode in what appears to be a growing battle between pharmacy benefit managers and retail pharmacies.

CHICAGO — Walgreens on Tuesday filed a document with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission titled "The Value of Walgreens" that specifically outlined what Walgreens can bring to an employer, exclusive of any relationship with a pharmacy benefit manager, such as Express Scripts. Specifically regarding its negotiations with Express Scripts, Walgreens stated: "Negotiations remain at an impasse, and Walgreens has begun informing patients that we will not be part of the Express Scripts network as of January 1, 2012."

NEW YORK — Express Scripts is readying for a pharmacy network without Walgreens, according to an analyst report published Thursday.

Credit Suisse analyst Edward Kelly reported that Express Scripts issued a letter to clients on Monday encouraging those clients to begin pushing prescriptions to alternative pharmacies. "While this is the next logical step in this very public negotiation, it supports our view that a near-term resolution is unlikely and suggests that the possibility of no deal (while still low) is increasing," Kelly wrote.

So, who’s afraid of a bigger, badder Express Scripts-Medco?  Apparently not its competitors.

CVS Caremark president and CEO Larry Merlo isn’t worried about a combined ESI-Medco. “Assuming that the proposed transaction is completed, I am more confident than ever that CVS Caremark can and will effectively compete in this vibrant industry,” Merlo said to open his company’s Aug. 4 earnings call with analysts.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association on Thursday delivered their first formal letter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in shared opposition to the proposed merger of Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions.

The initial correspondence emphasized joint opposition to the proposed merger on the grounds of the merger’s anticompetitive impact on patients, consumers, the market and the entire healthcare delivery system.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — In his July 20 letter to benefit consultants, Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness Kermit Crawford made a direct appeal to plan sponsors to either “select a PBM that includes Walgreens” or consider “direct arrangements with plans currently using Express Scripts, to the extent permitted by their contracts.” The letter also included an attached “template agreement that can be used to implement such direct arrangements where permitted,” for consideration.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The merger agreement between Medco Health Solutions and Express Scripts announced Thursday has drawn objections from retail pharmacy trade groups.

In a joint statement on Thursday, National Community Pharmacists Association EVP and CEO Douglas Hoey and National Association of Chain Drug Stores president and CEO Steve Anderson said Express Scripts’ $29.1 billion acquisition of Medco would “exacerbate [pharmacy benefit managers’] detrimental effect on pharmacy patient care.”

NANTUCKET, Mass. — Walgreens CFO Wade Miquelon said that the chain's decision to break its ties with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts was the best decision, according to a Reuters report.

Caling it a "principled stand," Miquelon, who spoke at the Jefferies 2011 Global Consumer Conference in Nantucket, Mass., on Thursday, said that "under any scenario of what Express Scripts is proposing ... it's much better for us to go it alone," Reuters reported.

ST. LOUIS — After Walgreens made its contract dispute with Express Scripts public on Tuesday morning, the pharmacy benefit manager stated it is open to continued negotiations with Walgreens.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Soon after reporting double-digit earnings per share growth Tuesday morning, Walgreens announced it would forego as much as $5.3 billion in annual sales, representing some 7% of the company’s business and 90 million prescriptions, as it walks away from its relationship with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

Wall Street reacted badly to the news — sales of Walgreens’ stock were down more than 6% to $42 and change in mid-morning trading.

In its “2010 Drug Trend Report,” Express Scripts attributed much pharmacy-related waste to patients failing to follow three simple guidelines: Take medications as prescribed, take drugs that maximize clinical benefit for the lowest price and use the safest and cheapest delivery channel.