Relationship With Walgreens
Walgreens, one of the nation's largest pharmacy chains, decided in 2011 to end their relationship with Express Scripts after the two companies failed to reach an agreement over payment rates. For much of 2011, the two giants were embroiled in a very bitter and public contracting dispute. Express Scripts claims Walgreens was demanding a 20 percent increase in its reimbursements, an assertion Walgreens denies. For its part, Walgreens says Express Scripts was offering "below-average" reimbursements for the more than 80 million prescriptions it fills annually for Express Scripts' members. In ending their contract with Express Scripts, Walgreens faces potential losses of $5.3 billion in annual sales.
With more than 56,000 pharmacies remaining in Express Scripts' pharmacy network, rival pharmacies are wasting no time in trying to attract their business. CVS ran an advertisement in 49 million of its circulars distributed in newspapers and other publications. In addition, retail giants Wal-mart and Safeway ran radio and television advertisements seeking to woo Walgreens customers.
The two companies announced in July 2012 that they had come to an agreement and that Walgreens would become part of the Express Scripts network of pharmacies once again, effective September 15, 2012. The details of the multi-year contract were undisclosed.
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