If you want proof that the prescription drug industry is serious business, just check out the Twitter feeds of Walgreen and Express Scripts?for a rare view of public fighting between two of the country?s largest health care companies. Their failure to reach an agreement on drug prices have made it impossible for millions of Americans to get a?prescription filled at Walgreen.
Express Scripts is one of the country?s biggest pharmacy benefit managers?they?re basically the middleman between pharmacies and your health insurance company, so they?re the ones responsible for negotiating drug prices. They?re also one of the largest; they work with big health insurance providers like They recently negotiated a new contract to keep Walgreens in their network that fell through; Express Scripts spokesman Brian Henry told NPR that Walgreens wanted too much money:
Their rates and terms would be as much as 20 percent more. And our clients aren?t willing to pay that premium for basically the same service you can get at many other thousands of our pharmacies.
Michael Polzin, a spokesman for the drugstore chain, said the opposite:
We did not propose any increase in our rates. So there would not be any significant savings to Express Scripts clients for excluding Walgreens from their network. So it?s really a situation of all pain and no gain for their clients.
But Walgreens is adamant about getting the message out that Express Scripts has done a great disservice to their network members; they?ve launched an ?I Choose Walgreens? campaign, encouraging customers to voice their frustration over the failed deal.
Photo: Shutterstock
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