DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. has more than doubled its preferred pharmacy network relationships with national Medicare Part D plan sponsors for 2015.
Walgreens said Tuesday that for the 2015 plan year it will be a preferred pharmacy for nine plan sponsors, compared with three in the prior coverage period.
The nation’s largest drug chain will have preferred network relationships with six new Medicare Part D plan sponsors and pharmacy benefit managers that support them for 2015, including Express Scripts, which features Walgreens as the only national pharmacy chain in two of its prescription drug plans.
New preferred network relationships for 2015 include Cigna-HealthSpring, EnvisionRx Plus, Prime Therapeutics, Providence Health Plan and SilverScript.
Walgreens will continue to be a part of preferred pharmacy networks with national Part D plan sponsors Humana, UnitedHealthcare and WellCare.
In addition to participating in preferred pharmacy networks, Walgreens is part of the networks of hundreds of other Medicare prescription drug plans for 2015, the company added.
"The Medicare population is growing rapidly, and by working closely with plan sponsors as a part of preferred pharmacy networks we’re uniquely positioned to help meet the prescription drug needs of America’s seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries," Kermit Crawford, president of pharmacy, health and wellness at Walgreens, said in a statement. "With a higher prevalence of chronic disease in the U.S., along with the aging population, our pharmacists are playing an important role in health care, providing personalized care."
Overall, Walgreens has 8,207 drug stores with in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
