Pharmacy Cooperative in new Deal with CVS Caremark

October 21, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – National CooperativeRx, a pharmacy benefit purchasing collaborative owned by employers and labor organizations, has worked out a new agreement with CVS Caremark.

A news release said the two companies agreed to improved pricing terms for National CooperativeRx members beginning January 1, 2011, and annual pricing improvements in subsequent years.

“National CooperativeRx was created by employer and labor organizations to put experts on the front lines of a very complicated pharmacy benefits industry,” said Greg Horstman, CEO of National CooperativeRx, in the announcement. “As we add new members, we expect our plans to reap new and greater benefits from being part of an ever-growing purchasing coalition. That is why we never stop negotiating better pricing and better value on behalf of our members.  This improved pricing will certainly accentuate our five-year average pharmacy trend that has been reduced by nearly 1% per year.”

According to the announcement, the company recently mailed “sizeable” rebate and dividend checks to members.  Because National CooperativeRx is a cooperative, member plans receive a dividend when the cooperative’s income exceeds expenses. 

These dividends are paid to coalition members in addition to guaranteed minimum rebates that are part of the financial agreement with CVS Caremark, the announcement said. In the most recent one-year period, plan sponsors that are member-owners of National CooperativeRx collectively received more than $8.4 million in combined rebates and dividends as a result of their membership.

National CooperativeRx was founded seven years ago by three Wisconsin based employer coalitions looking to control overall drug spend, make better decisions with better data and gain access to transparent information about pharmacy management. The coalition is available to self-funded employers and organizations in all fifty states.

More information is at http://www.wisrx.com/.

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