This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
This subject is a little off topic from the normal posts here on DIY Home Sweet Home. However, I believe this is something that you should all be aware of.
As an ex-military family, we have always relied on Walgreens for our prescription needs. Even though Hubby and I are no longer military, we still use Walgreens and highly recommend them. We have been stationed at many bases throughout the years. With every new base came new hospitals and new doctors, but one thing we could always rely on was that no matter where we were stationed (aside from the time spent overseas) there was a 24 hour Walgreens just second away.
For the past year, Walgreens has negotiated with Express Scripts for a new contract to continue as part of its pharmacy provider network. Those negotiations were unsuccessful, and the contract expired on Dec. 31. As a result, Walgreens is no longer part of Express Scripts’ pharmacy provider network as of Jan. 1, 2012. This includes all Walgreens pharmacies nationwide and Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York City area.
Walgreens and Express Scripts worked hard with negotiations. Walgreens offered to hold rates for a new contract flat and did not seek an increase in rates. The response from Express Scripts was to insist on being able to unilaterally define contract terms, such as what does and does not constitute a brand and generic drug. Express Scripts also proposed to slash Walgreens reimbursement rates to levels below the industry average cost to provide each prescription.
What does this mean for Military families? One of Express Scripts’ clients is Tricare, which is the health and prescription drug program for America’s military service men and women. During negotiations, Walgreens took the unprecedented step of offering Express Scripts an ironclad guarantee that Walgreens prices would match or beat the average costs per adjusted prescription of all other pharmacies in the Tricare network. Walgreens did this in an effort to prevent our country’s military personnel from being caught in the middle.
However, this is not only affecting military families. As a customer this means higher prices for prescriptions and being forced to move to a new pharmacy. Fortunately Walgreens cares about their customers and has offered a Prescription Savings Club so that their costumers can continue to get discounted rates on their medications and prescriptions. In January they are running a special price for their discount cards so if you are a Walgreens customer go pick up a Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens today!
In an attempt to make the transition easier for their customers Walgreens has unveiled a "comprehensive national effort". Walgreens around the country are doing what they can to assist their customers and are helping them transition to other pharmacies as they are forced to leave Walgreens in order to get their in-network prices on prescriptions.
If you are a valued Walgreens customer, like I am, I think this is an important issue to follow up on. You can read more about it here or you can follow Walgreens on Twitter or Walgreens on Facebook
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