Walgreens Health Initiatives Reports Negative Drug Trend for Highly Managed Plans

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2008 - Pharmacy benefit manager Walgreens Health Initiatives reported that highly managed plans experienced a decline in prescription drug cost trend as part of its Walgreens Health Initiatives Outlook, Trend Report 2008. "The outstanding -0.07 percent trend for highly managed plans demonstrates the effectiveness of our cost-containment strategies and illustrates the enormous impact our plan management options can have," said Richard Ashworth, executive vice president, Walgreens Health Initiatives.

The company's average total prescription medication cost increase, or drug trend, was 5.66 percent, the fourth consecutive year of single-digit trends. When specialty medications are excluded, the overall trend drops to 4.80 percent. Making these results even more notable is that the Walgreens Health Initiatives trend is based on all clients meeting the company's inclusion criteria, rather than a random sampling that isn't representative of the entire population, a common industry practice. Walgreens Health Initiatives' approach demonstrates the company's commitment to transparency in business practice and philosophy.

The report, which will be available online in early summer at WalgreensHealth.com/TrendReport2008, also details other key outcomes, including a generic dispensing rate of 61.2 percent--always a key objective. Walgreens Health Initiatives' analysis shows that for every 1 percent increase in generic utilization, clients realize an approximate 2 percent savings in total plan cost. Even better was the generic dispensing rate of 69.6 percent for their entire book of business (including Medicare)--a leading rate in the PBM industry.

Walgreens Health Initiatives, Inc. is a pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 9 million covered lives nationwide. It is one of three PBMs to achieve certification every year since the inception of the certification program by HR Policy Association, a public policy organization of senior human resources executives of the largest employers in the United States. Walgreens Health Initiatives, with a national network of more than 62,000 pharmacies, is known for its commitment to client and member service and its focus on clinical programs that promote patient-first healthcare as well as cost-containment.

Walgreens Health Initiatives is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG)(NASDAQ:WAG), the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2007 sales of $53.8 billion. Walgreens operates 6,204 drugstores in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Walgreens is expanding its patient-first health care services beyond traditional pharmacy through Walgreens Health Services, its managed care division, and Take Care Health Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary that manages 168 convenient care clinics at Walgreens drugstores. In addition to Walgreens Health Initiatives, Walgreens Health Services assists pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Mail Service, Inc., Walgreens Home Care, Inc., Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, LLC and SeniorMed, LLC (a pharmacy provider to long-term care facilities). More information about Walgreens is available at Walgreens.com.

Contact

Walgreen Co.
Michael Polzin, 847-914-2925
http://news.walgreens.com

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