Walgreens Wants to Help

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I remember when we moved and had to change health plans. At first we could use the same mail in pharmacy so life was good. But then the company dropped that provider and we had to switch. OMG! The hassle of getting prescriptions transferred and losing a relationship I had been in for over 10 years with a company that worked well and efficiently. I was not happy. 

I can so empathize with all of the people who got a press release from Walgreens and Express Scripts telling them that they couldn't use Walgreens as their pharmacy any longer. Some of these people had been using Walgreens for YEARS and had developed a close relationship with their pharmacist. For some Walgreens was the closest pharmacy and now they would have to drive miles out of their way to go to another pharmacy. In spite of Walgreens not asking for a boost in rates Express Scripts decided to go with a plan that made THEM more money than with a plan that was better for their customer base. All hail corporate greed. They admit that their customers won't see any savings from excluding Walgreens but hey, let's make it more difficult for the customer.

To help their customers deal with the disruption  a special discount on the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens is being offered. During January individuals can join for $5 and families for $10 and receive savings on something like 8,000 name brand and generic drugs. Regular price is $20 individual and $35 family. There are 400 generics that could cost $1 a week (!) for a three month supply.

Tricare is the program used by the military for prescription (and healthcare) benefits. Walgreens promised during negotiations that they would meet or beat the average of all the pharmacies in the program but this was still not good enough. They wanted to keep the military families out of the brouhaha but it didn't work. They will have to go to another pharmacy too.

If you are effected by this or are angered by it you can contact your local media and express your displeasure. You can keep up with what is going on by following Walgreens on Facebook and Walgreens on Twitter