Content about Pharmacy Benefit Management

WASHINGTON — Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., has expressed concerns about the proposed merger between pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts and Medco in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission.

The letter, dated Feb. 6, outlines how Slaughter represents a district that contains 34 independent pharmacies — which employ 364 full-time individuals — that fill more than two million prescriptions every year.

NAPLES, Fla. — In the five years since he has led the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, president and CEO Steve Anderson has operated under a sound policy; so simple, it is the advice he gives his own children: “We don’t start any fights — but we sure are going to finish them.” Earlier this month, Anderson and NACDS chairman Bob Loeffler, who also serves as H-E-B chief administrative officer, told NACDS Regional Chain Conference attendees here that now they are going to take that fight to the pharmacy benefit management lobby.


Multibillion-dollar pharmacy benefit management companies are advertising aggressively to try to convince Congress and the Federal Trade Commission to approve a merger between Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions (“PCMA launches advertising campaign,” Drug Store News, Jan. 17).

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.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Viewed through an Express Scripts lens, Walgreens' new hire announcement — naming Robyn Peters to group VP managed market sales — may appear timely. The drug store chain is approaching an aggressive marketing overture behind its entire lineup of healthcare proficiency during the first pharmacy benefit manager selling season that it is no longer part of the Express Scripts pharmacy network.

WASHINGTON — The main lobby representing pharmacy benefit managers is launching an advertising campaign amid scrutiny the industry has received lately from the public and lawmakers.

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association announced Tuesday the launch of its new "That's What PBMs Do" ad campaign, which includes print and video ads that focus on what the PCMA called PBMs' role in reducing pharmacy costs, Medicare Part D and mail-order pharmacy.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In the wake of a key Senate subcommittee hearing this month, and on the heels of the collapse of the blockbuster AT&T and T-Mobile merger, four more U.S. lawmakers have joined the growing ranks of consumer groups, members of Congress and employers questioning the proposed mega-merger of pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions.
 

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday again made its case for keeping its more than 8,000 points of care in the Express Scripts pharmacy network: Excluding Walgreens will not afford Express Scripts' customers any cost savings. Besides, if Walgreens does wind up out of the Express Scripts network at the top of the new year, many of those health plans and employers will start looking for ways to get Walgreens back in network, most likely by switching pharmacy benefit managers at their first opportunity.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The longer this proposed Express Scripts-Medco deal remains under the microscope, the more people don't seem to like what they see. The general tone at this Senate hearing was against the merger. Many of the senators in attendance were expressing concern that the proposed merger would negatively impact access to pharmacy, which is perhaps the greatest import of the possibility of an Express Scripts-Medco super-PBM.

SAN FRANCISCO — As of January 2012, Chinese Community Health Plan will transition to a new pharmacy benefits management company, Navitus Health Solutions, from Express Scripts to provide its members with continued access to Walgreens pharmacies, the health plan subsidiary of Chinese Hospital in San Francisco announced Friday.

According to the health plan, the move was made to maintain access to those Walgreens pharmacies. "In San Francisco, Walgreens is a leading pharmacy provider and operates the only 24-hour pharmacies in the city," the company stated.

NEW YORK — Pfizer's efforts to protect the sales of its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor have attracted scrutiny from members of Congress, according to published reports.

The New York Times reported Thursday that three senators — Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; and Herb Kohl, D-Wis. — had asked Pfizer and five other companies to provide details of their agreements to prevent dispensing of generic versions of Lipitor (atorvastatin) and dispense only the branded version.

LISLE, Ill. — Pharmacy benefit manager SXC Health Solutions is buying PBM service company HealthTrans for $250 million, SXC said Thursday.

Based in Colorado with additional offices in Illinois, Florida and Georgia, HealthTrans provides PBM and healthcare information technology services to about 260 clients, and its PBM business includes a suite of PBM offerings, such as nationwide retail network, formulary and rebate management, Medicare Part D services and mail order.