Abilene Walgreens: Insurance Decision Out of Our Hands
By: Gina Benitez and Stetson Samuel
Updated: January 19, 2012
Walgreens is no longer accepting certain insurance companies, including one that carries several veterans and active military members who can't get their prescriptions filled.
Now the company is firing back and letting its Abilene clientele know the real reason why things have changed, and why they had to take a multibillion dollar hit.
Express Scripts, is a pharmacy benefit manager, that Walgreens has been under contract with.
But when it was time to renew, negotiations didn't go well.
"Unfortunately, we were never able to get the resolution that we needed as far as the contract agreement, " said Walgreens Pharmacy Manager, James Cross.
According to Walgreens, they didn't want to increase reimbursements, they planned on keeping rates the same. But they say Express Scripts had other ideas.
"In other words, they wanted to tell us what was gonna be a name brand product and what was gonna be a generic. They also proposed cutting our reimbursement below the average cost for our providing prescription services," said Cross.
So as a result, the drugstore chain can no longer accept certain insurance chains, including Tricare, which covers military families and a large portion of their profits.
"The last thing Walgreens wanted to do was lose business, particularly with the Tricare family. They're such an integral part of Abilene as well as other military bases around the country and so we support the military families and the retirees," said Cross.
Negotiations continued until December 15th, but an agreement could not be reached. Brian Henry, the senior Director of Public Affairs for Express Scripts, says Walgreens made the decision to leave. They say they were open to having them stay at terms that were right for their clients.
"Walgreens at its current rates and terms would be about 20 percent more costly at its current rates and terms to do the exact same things," said Henry.
However, Walgreens says they didn't want to change costs. All they wanted to was keep reimbursements the same, while Express Scripts wanted to make cuts.
"It was very very tough for us to lose that business without having any choice at the negotiation table. When Express Scripts said no negotiations we're not gonna take your contracts, they didn't give us a chance," added Cross.
Now the company is firing back and letting its Abilene clientele know the real reason why things have changed, and why they had to take a multibillion dollar hit.
Express Scripts, is a pharmacy benefit manager, that Walgreens has been under contract with.
But when it was time to renew, negotiations didn't go well.
"Unfortunately, we were never able to get the resolution that we needed as far as the contract agreement, " said Walgreens Pharmacy Manager, James Cross.
According to Walgreens, they didn't want to increase reimbursements, they planned on keeping rates the same. But they say Express Scripts had other ideas.
"In other words, they wanted to tell us what was gonna be a name brand product and what was gonna be a generic. They also proposed cutting our reimbursement below the average cost for our providing prescription services," said Cross.
So as a result, the drugstore chain can no longer accept certain insurance chains, including Tricare, which covers military families and a large portion of their profits.
"The last thing Walgreens wanted to do was lose business, particularly with the Tricare family. They're such an integral part of Abilene as well as other military bases around the country and so we support the military families and the retirees," said Cross.
Negotiations continued until December 15th, but an agreement could not be reached. Brian Henry, the senior Director of Public Affairs for Express Scripts, says Walgreens made the decision to leave. They say they were open to having them stay at terms that were right for their clients.
"Walgreens at its current rates and terms would be about 20 percent more costly at its current rates and terms to do the exact same things," said Henry.
However, Walgreens says they didn't want to change costs. All they wanted to was keep reimbursements the same, while Express Scripts wanted to make cuts.
"It was very very tough for us to lose that business without having any choice at the negotiation table. When Express Scripts said no negotiations we're not gonna take your contracts, they didn't give us a chance," added Cross.
