Walgreens-CVS Caremark
Thursday June 10, 2010
Impacts BCBST and Principal insureds
On the front of its Business Day section, the New York Times (6/10, B1, Abelson, Singer) reports, "A fight has broken out between the nation's biggest drugstore chains, Walgreens and CVS Caremark, potentially affecting where millions of consumers can fill their prescriptions." On Monday, Walgreens "announced it would not participate as a prescription drug provider for customers in new drug benefit plans administered by CVS Caremark," and on Wednesday, "CVS Caremark countered the Walgreen move. The company said that anyone now enrolled in its drug benefit plans would have to stop filling their prescriptions at Walgreens within a month." The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in 24 states are also investigating anti-competitive practices by CVS Caremark.
The Wall Street Journal (6/10, Martin, Mathews, subscription required) notes that as many as 53 million patients could be blocked by CVS Caremark from filling prescriptions at Walgreen drugstores. In addition, Walgreen said its announcement on Monday was due to CVS prescription plans that favor its own pharmacies and "unpredictable" reimbursement rates. The AP (6/10) and the Financial Times (6/10, Birchall, subscription required) also cover the story.
