Can you use cvs caremark at walgreens

WOONSOCKET, R.I., and DEERFIELD, Ill., June 18, 2010 - CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) and Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) (NASDAQ: WAG) today announced that the companies have reached an agreement on terms under which Walgreens will continue participating in the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management (PBM) national retail network for existing, new or renewal plans. The companies are not disclosing the financial terms of the new contract.

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Can I use Walgreens if I have CVS Caremark?
Are Walgreens and CVS the same?
Is Caremark different from CVS?
Is CVS Caremark the same as Express Scripts?

"We are very pleased with the outcome of this mutual, multi-year agreement that meets our business objectives," said Walgreens Executive Vice President of Pharmacy, Kermit Crawford. "The agreement makes good business sense, provides the framework we need to operate our business going forward, and assures choice and convenience for the many consumers who look to us for quality pharmacy care. The agreement is good for our patients, pharmacists and shareholders, and will allow us to continue to meet the needs of our customers across the country through the CVS Caremark network."

Per Lofberg, President of CVS Caremark's pharmacy benefit management business, said, "We are pleased to have reached a mutually agreeable solution together with Walgreens that is consistent with our top priority to provide convenient access to affordable high-quality pharmacy health care. This new contract enables Walgreens to continue participating in CVS Caremark's PBM national pharmacy network, provides enhanced network stability, eliminates any current or long-term disruption for our clients or their members and allows us to continue to fulfill our obligation to deliver cost-effective pharmacy benefits for our clients."

With the continuing participation of Walgreens, the CVS Caremark national pharmacy network will have more than 64,000 participating pharmacies, including neighborhood independent pharmacies, chain pharmacies, and those located in supermarkets and other major retailers.

Thursday, Jun 11 2009

Walgreen Will No Longer Accept Four CVS Caremark Prescription Drug PlansWalgreen will no longer fill prescriptions for members of four prescription drug plans offered by CVS Caremark because of "unreasonably low and below-market" reimbursement rates, the Chicago Sun-Times reports (Guy, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/29). The move will affect members of plans managed for ArcelorMittal, Johnson Controls, Progressive Casualty Insurance and the Wisconsin Education Association Trust (Galante, Bloomberg/Providence Journal, 11/30). Most of the 100,000 affected plan members live in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

According to Walgreen officials, the company selected the four plans because they have the lowest reimbursement rates from CVS Caremark. Trent Taylor, president of Walgreens Health Services, said, "We can't continue accepting reimbursement rates that are drastically below market" (Manor, Chicago Tribune, 11/30). Walgreen said that CVS Caremark increased the reimbursement rate for a fifth plan but declined to provide the same increase in the rates for the four affected plans (Wall Street Journal, 11/30).

Taylor said that Walgreen will continue to seek an agreement with CVS Caremark on reimbursement rates for the four plans (Chicago Sun-Times, 11/29). In response to the move, CVS Caremark said, "We have repeatedly reached out to Walgreens to resolve the matter and regret that they have chosen to terminate their participation in the retail networks of the four clients targeted in the Midwest" (Wall Street Journal, 11/30). Analysts predict that the "kind of showdown with Walgreens likely will become more frequent as pharmacy benefit managers look for ways to squeeze savings out of the spiraling cost of health care while pharmacies try to preserve profits," according to the Tribune (Chicago Tribune, 11/30). This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Drugstore chain Walgreen has extended its agreement to fill prescriptions for CVS Caremark, which runs one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit management businesses.

The deal means customers with prescription drug benefits managed by CVS Caremark can still have their prescriptions filled at stores operated by Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen, the nation's largest drugstore chain.

A Walgreens store in the Miami suburb of Homestead.

CVS Caremark also runs the nation's second largest drugstore chain, in addition to its pharmacy benefits management, or PBM, business.

Walgreen (whose individual stores use the plural name Walgreens) released a brief statement on Monday announcing the multi-year agreement but declined to offer details on it.

PBMs run prescription drug plans for employers, insurers and other customers. They process mail-order prescriptions and handle bills for prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies.

Last year, Walgreen took a revenue hit when it went nearly nine months without a new agreement to do business with Express Scripts Holding, the nation's largest PBM.

The companies had stopped doing business at the start of 2012, and the lapse meant that some Walgreen customers migrated to competing stores to fill their prescriptions before the companies reached a new deal that started last September.

Can I use Walgreens if I have CVS Caremark?

In addition to CVS Pharmacy, all of the major pharmacy chains, such as Walgreens, Giant, Safeway, Wegmans, and many others will remain in-network. Use the “Locate a Pharmacy in Your Area” tool posted on http://info.caremark.com/fcps to check that the pharmacy you use is in-network.

Are Walgreens and CVS the same?

Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, and photo services.

Is Caremark different from CVS?

CVScaremark, previously CVS/caremark) is the prescription benefit management subsidiary of CVS Health, headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Is CVS Caremark the same as Express Scripts?

CVS Caremark provides prescription drugs through both retail pharmacies and its pharmacy benefits manager service (Caremark) and Express Scripts is solely a Pharmacy Benefits Manager with a mail order prescription drug service.