This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.
As many of you know, I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis; it leaves me feeling poorly on many occasions, and it has resulted in one of my wrists being fused. That’s the bad news. The good news is the fact that so long as I have the right medications, I am able to do everything I need to do on a day-to-day basis regardless of how I am feeling. It works well … except when it doesn’t.
I cannot tell you the number of times I have run into trouble when my insurance company suddenly stopped paying for a medication, forced me to reapply for the prescription before getting it, or suddenly forced me to go to a different pharmacy or mail order service in order to get my medications.
For me it has usually been little more than an annoyance (albeit a frustrating one at times), but I can imagine that for many others it would be a far bigger issue. That’s why I really feel for those individuals who have been getting their medications from the Walgreens and Express Scripts program, now that Express Scripts has decided to no longer have Walgreens in their network.
The Express Scripts program:
“…acts as a middleman between pharmacies providing the health care service and employers and health plans who pay for the medications.”
Walgreens is no longer part of Express Scripts’ pharmacy provider network as of Jan. 1, 2012; this affects customers who use all Walgreens pharmacies nationwide as well as Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York City area.
The best case scenario is that this will force pharmacy patients to go elsewhere if they want to use their in-network pharmacy benefits. This may not sound like a big deal to many, but as someone who needs to fill multiple prescriptions on a regular basis I can tell you that the disruption can be hugely problematic. Add in the fact that many patients are now having to drive even farther to get their prescriptions filled, losing access to Walgreens many 24-hour and drive-thru pharmacies, which is an extra burden on people who may already be dealing with a debilitating illness.
Among those impacted are many military personnel. You see, one of Express Scripts’ clients is Tricare, the health and prescription drug program for America’s military service men and women. Walgreens offered Express Scripts guarantees with regard to pricing to help ensure continued coverage through Tricare. They have also offered to contract separately with Express Scripts for Tricare to ensure continued coverage for America’s military, but it too was rebuffed.
The result of all of this is that 250,000 Tricare beneficiaries are being affected. While I am not one of them, I can tell you of the frustration and anxiety that comes with sudden changes such as this when they impact something as vital as health. The details can be found in the Press Release, found here.
If you are among those impacted by the program changes, we want to know. The best way to help yourself and others in situations like this is to speak out and speak out loudly.
The Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens is their response which includes steps aimed to minimize the impact on patients by offering a discount. You can find the details on their site.
If you are impacted by these changes, if you know people who have been, or if you simply want to voice your support for Walgreen’s and want to stay up to date on what is happening, consider liking Walgreens on Facebook and following Walgreens on Twitter.
Yes, this is a sponsored post, but as someone who has been impacted time and time again by business decisions made with little to no concern for the real-world impact on people (like me!) who rely on undisrupted access to their medications, I was more than happy to write it.
