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Walgreens Pharmacy President Kermit R. Crawford on how the pharmacy plans to move forward without Express Scripts.
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Well this week Express Scripts stopped covering prescriptions filled Walgreens.
After the two unable to agree on a contract renewal the contract accounted for five point three billion dollars in revenue for Walgreens last year.
-- to tell us Howell the pharmacies moving forward with out Express Scripts.
This is president of pharmacy health and wellness services Kermit Crawford.
How are you dealing now with out Express Scripts and all that revenue.
Well thank you -- has on the show.
Who the reality is you know Express Scripts represents about 7%.
Of our overall business about 10% of our prescription business.
And actually over the past several months we've had over a 120.
Different play ends and or employers.
25 different PV homes that still have access to Walgreens or ways in their contract to keep their members -- To walk -- so that number is less than that 10% today the reality is 90% of our customers this will not be affected.
For that 10% and you mentioned some of the the plans now that are are moving forward or at least try to look at different ways.
So what -- the people within their plans can continue to use Walgreen.
What are some of the other steps you're taking for that 10% to allow them to continue to come -- -- rates.
Well bridges you know we've been working on this contract.
Negotiations over ten months.
We actually put rate on that we have to put an offer on the table that would keep our rate flat for three years and we actually we're back in mid December.
And made a different offer that actually had additional cost saving concessions and it.
-- -- scripts Express Scripts actually did not accept that offer.
And that wanted to push the negotiations out until this year which meant that we're going to see a lot of disruption in the market we're actually seeing that disruption in the market today.
You can one million ways -- we -- -- to help people on site terrible will you continue to negotiate with express strips are you done.
Absolutely -- we're we're have been -- filling prescriptions that we continue you know to try to work with expressed -- -- But -- -- the ways that we're trying to help patients who do wanna stay with us is -- -- prescription savings club -- Where patients can take advantage of discounts we haven't ordered 3000.
Brand and generic drugs and they can get it in the month of January are for five dollars for an individual and ten dollars.
For a family.
By these contracts that these you know that that say I own a company.
And I've got a contract with Express Scripts as far as from for my health care benefits are they standard.
Are -- long term how to those contracts worth so these companies can say look I can't change right now because of my -- -- long term contract with express -- but in a year or two years.
-- down the road I'm gonna move.
They're -- about 13 of all the PD a business comes up for renewal each year -- some contracts are on an annual basis.
So there's an opportunity for us to.
Contract where it where it with other plans for plans to move.
To PV -- that actually have access to walk rates.
I got -- OK one final question here at with the people that are you wanna continue to use Walgreens.
A need for them.
-- does it matter so much that whether these -- Generic so whether they're using under the brand name drugs and he Canadian -- and what they go generics and your plan you were just mentioning.
Oh absolutely they can say more prescription savings club plant like -- that it covers over 3000 brand recovers all generics.
And -- a circus certainly unfortunate that this is happening because.
You know most of the members -- not see any savings they just -- the access to Walgreens but -- and members will not see any savings from this move at all.
Both -- I know those that loved to use Walgreens opened that they can get a quick solution to this thank you so much for joining us.
We certainly appreciate it Kermit Crawford.
