Military no longer gets drugs at Walgreens

Members of the U.S. military's TRICARE pharmacy program will no longer be able to get medications from the drug chain Walgreens, officials said. In a statement, Walgreens said its contract renewal negotiations with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Inc., had been unsuccessful and, as a result, Walgreens is no longer a part of Express Scripts' pharmacy network. The contract between Express Scripts Inc. and the Walgreens pharmacy chain expired Dec. 31, 2011, and as a result Walgreens will no longer be a TRICARE pharmacy network provider. "Most beneficiaries will have access to another network pharmacy very close to home as the contract with Express Scripts requires high access standards," TRICARE said in a statement. "There are still 56,000 network pharmacies nationwide -- easily meeting or exceeding access requirements. In addition to other network pharmacies, there are other options including access to military pharmacies at no cost; and convenient, low-cost TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery." However, the least expensive option after the no-cost military pharmacies located on military installations worldwide is TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery, which mails prescriptions directly to the patient, TRICARE officials said.