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Caremark Wins Pharmacy Contract For Tennessee Employees:
and RxSolutions also submitted bids for the contract, which represents a carving out of work that was handled by three insurers previously. The deal covers pharmacy benefits for state workers, their dependents, and local government and education workers on the state's insurance plans. The consolidation into a single contract should save the state $33.7 million a year or $168 million over five years, Lee said.
Caremark will receive up to $17.5 million in administrative fees over five years. Winning the award has implications beyond dollars and cents as the nation's largest purchaser of drugs attempts to rebound from recent contract losses in other states and with other customers here.
"It's just good to see them getting back on the track of winning contracts," said Jeff Jonas, an analyst at Gabelli & Co. in Rye, N.Y., which owns shares in CVS Caremark on behalf of clients. "They're certainly going to be competitive on the price, given their size and the purchasing contracts they get from drug companies. I think it's just a matter of marketing and presenting it correctly to the client."
Including discounts that Caremark would pass along, and the company's administrative fees, the state expects to spend $1.38 billion on prescription drugs over the next five years. That cost would have been roughly $1.56 billion under the current arrangement.
"Those savings are significant," Lee said, shortly before members of three state insurance oversight committees voted on the award.
Under the contract, Caremark would be required to pass discounts on drug purchases to plan members. Before this action, Caremark already managed pharmacy benefits for 80,000 members in BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's preferred provider plan statewide.Under the new Caremark contract, 95 percent of members will have the same or lower co-pays for the drugs that they take. That's the lowest rate of disruption among the four bidders, state officials said.State employees also will be able to get their drugs at other non-CVS drugstores that are part of CVS Caremark's network of more than 1,600 pharmacies statewide.
"We're disappointed that CVS Caremark was selected despite its troubling track record," said Nell Geiser, coordinator of pharmacy initiatives with the Change to Win group. "We hope the state carefully monitors this contract going forward."
, Jonas, countered that the unions are attacking the pharmacy benefits arm's reputation because they were unable to unionize employees of CVS' retail drugstores. A state attorney general's review found no reason to block or delay the contract award, Lee said. She said language would be included in the contract outlining remedies that could include termination if misconduct were found by Caremark in the FTC investigation or otherwise.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Cvs Pharmacy Refills Made Easy
1. If you’re already a customer:
If you’re already a customer, there is a number of ways for you to have your prescription refilled. Assuming that you do in fact have refills on it…
a. You can simply CALL your CVS/Pharmacy and ask them to refill it for you. Be sure to stay on the phone with them long enough to ensure that you are due up for the medication. Having a prescription refilled before its due date many times means that your insurance carrier will not cover it. Be it Medicare or a private insurance carrier. So be sure to double-check with the pharmacy employee you speak with.
b. You can use CVS/Pharmacy’s AUTOMATED SYSTEM. To do this, call your local CVS/Pharmacy and listen carefully to the prompts. (Press 1, Enter 6 digit RX number, then # key...). If you find them confusing, or are unsure as to whether or not you followed them correctly, call the number back and verify with a pharmacy employee (Press 3 then 1).
c. You can also order your refill ONLINE at cvs.com
d. You can also WALK in, and maybe do some shopping, or read a magazine as you wait.
2. When wanting to go to a different CVS
Having your refills done at a different CVS than the one you usually utilize is also relatively straight forward. This is a good thing to remember when on vacation, out of town, or are simply in need of your medication and your local CVS/Pharmacy is not in easy reach.
a. CALL the local CVS/Pharmacy and explain the situation to them. They can pull up your prescription through the CVS database, and fill it for you.
b. You can also just WALK into any CVS/Pharmacy.
3. When you have NO MORE Refills
a. SIMPLY do ANY of the above if you’re using your regular CVS/Pharmacy. The Pharmacy will get in contact with your Dr. by either Fax or Phone Call and ask for a Refill Authorization.
b. If out of town or using a different CVS/Pharmacy, just CALL them and let them know you’re not a regular customer of theirs and that you don’t have any refills. They’ll take it from there. They may call your regular CVS and ask for your Dr.’s information and the medication, and then call or fax your Dr. for Refills. Or they may just call your Dr. directly if you have his contact information or if they can obtain it some other way.
If you’re already a customer, there is a number of ways for you to have your prescription refilled. Assuming that you do in fact have refills on it…
a. You can simply CALL your CVS/Pharmacy and ask them to refill it for you. Be sure to stay on the phone with them long enough to ensure that you are due up for the medication. Having a prescription refilled before its due date many times means that your insurance carrier will not cover it. Be it Medicare or a private insurance carrier. So be sure to double-check with the pharmacy employee you speak with.
b. You can use CVS/Pharmacy’s AUTOMATED SYSTEM. To do this, call your local CVS/Pharmacy and listen carefully to the prompts. (Press 1, Enter 6 digit RX number, then # key...). If you find them confusing, or are unsure as to whether or not you followed them correctly, call the number back and verify with a pharmacy employee (Press 3 then 1).
c. You can also order your refill ONLINE at cvs.com
d. You can also WALK in, and maybe do some shopping, or read a magazine as you wait.
2. When wanting to go to a different CVS
Having your refills done at a different CVS than the one you usually utilize is also relatively straight forward. This is a good thing to remember when on vacation, out of town, or are simply in need of your medication and your local CVS/Pharmacy is not in easy reach.
a. CALL the local CVS/Pharmacy and explain the situation to them. They can pull up your prescription through the CVS database, and fill it for you.
b. You can also just WALK into any CVS/Pharmacy.
3. When you have NO MORE Refills
a. SIMPLY do ANY of the above if you’re using your regular CVS/Pharmacy. The Pharmacy will get in contact with your Dr. by either Fax or Phone Call and ask for a Refill Authorization.
b. If out of town or using a different CVS/Pharmacy, just CALL them and let them know you’re not a regular customer of theirs and that you don’t have any refills. They’ll take it from there. They may call your regular CVS and ask for your Dr.’s information and the medication, and then call or fax your Dr. for Refills. Or they may just call your Dr. directly if you have his contact information or if they can obtain it some other way.
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