Forcing Employees to Buy Drugs Through the Mail. New Corporate Policies Curb Ability to Fill PrescriptionsAt the Local Pharmacy Thursday, February 19, 2004 By BARBARA MARTINEZ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL A growing number of large employers, from Citigroup to the Big Three auto companies, are forcing employees to get their prescription drugs through the mail rather than a local pharmacy. As with most shifts in health care, the motivation is money. Prescription-drug prices are one of the fastest-growing categories of medical costs. But mail-order drugs can be substantially cheaper in large part because the companies that sell them don't have as much overhead as retail pharmacies. There's another big reason for the growing use of so-called mandatory mail. Employers generally hire outside companies to manage their pharmacy benefits. Many of those companies own their own mail-order businesses, and tell clients they will get big discounts if they sign up. Pharmacy-benefits companies make much larger profit margins on prescriptions filled in their own mail-order pharmacies. Full story > Welcome | Latest News | Your Legislator | Mail Order | Questions Contact Us | Petition | Links Coalition for Quality Healthcare "Upholding high standards of personal service, assuring full access to consumer options and preserving the traditional contributions of local pharmacies to the state's economy" © Copyright 2004 Coalition for Quality Healthcare. All rights reserved.

Medco's Clash With Clarity 1 / 5 / 2006 Why You Should Support HB 5254! 11 / 1 / 2005 Generic Drugs By Mail Can Be A Raw Deal 2 / 15 / 2005 UAW plan pinches local pharmacies 2 / 8 / 2005 U.S. Maintains Medco Offered Insurer a Kickback 12 / 3 / 2004 Fill This! 12 / 3 / 2004 Medco May Face Turbulence 11 / 26 / 2004 Illinois ends Caremark contract 11 / 19 / 2004 Study: Shipping through mail can degrade medicine 10 / 27 / 2004 States Want Say on Drugs 8 / 22 / 2004 Express Scripts accused of defrauding state and consumers out of millions of dollars 8 / 4 / 2004 Competitive Concerns and Price Transparency in the PBM Market 7 / 27 / 2004 Protect the Upper Peninsula’s economy by ending restrictions on local pharmacists 5 / 5 / 2004 Drop restrictions on local pharmacists to protect local and state economies 5 / 4 / 2004 Competition will trim Michigan drug costs 4 / 28 / 2004 Pharmacies seek fair competition 4 / 27 / 2004 There Oughta Be a Law 4 / 26 / 2004 Medco to Pay $29M to Settle Accusations 4 / 26 / 2004 House panel eyes Rx break for pharmacies 4 / 21 / 2004 Prescription bills benefit consumers 4 / 2 / 2004 Pharmacists want to match mail-order prices 3 / 30 / 2004 No Cost Increases With CPPA 3 / 29 / 2004 Medicine by mail costly to jobs 3 / 16 / 2004 Mailing drugs may cost jobs 3 / 16 / 2004 Lost Jobs & Tax Revenue, Higher Unemployment Predicted by Study 3 / 16 / 2004 Mail-Order Prescription Mandates To Cost State 3,000 Jobs, $117 Million in Wages 3 / 16 / 2004 Forcing Employees to Buy Drugs Through the Mail. 2 / 19 / 2004 Medco Loses Deal To Supply Drugs To U.S. Employees 2 / 19 / 2004 New Legislation Helps Pharmacies Compete with Mail-Order 1 / 23 / 2004 New Laws Would Level Playing Field for Michigan Pharmacies 1 / 23 / 2004 Beloved Pharmacist Says Goodbye 1 / 20 / 2004 The drugs are in the mail and local druggists pay for it 1 / 20 / 2004 Prescription Coverage Editorial 1 / 4 / 2004