Walgreens pledges to help seniors with Medicare enrollment
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens will be offering free, personalized Part D plan comparison reports to help beneficiaries identify the plan that best meets their prescription drug needs, the retail pharmacy operator announced Monday. Plan reviews are available on a walk-in basis or by scheduling an appointment at Walgreens.com/medicare, Walgreens stated.
“The Medicare landscape can be challenging to navigate, and our pharmacists are trusted resources who can help beneficiaries understand their options to make the most informed plan choice,” stated Suzanne Hansen, Walgreens group VP pharmacy operations. “Prescription drug coverage is often times critical for those selecting new plans or evaluating their current plan. It’s helpful for Medicare beneficiaries to understand some of the ways to save on prescription costs through the use of preferred pharmacy networks or other means.”
Walgreens is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and others to help Medicare beneficiaries learn about new benefits available to them under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Walgreens is providing customers a range of educational materials on newly available preventive services, as well as ways to save on prescription drug spending in the “doughnut hole,” or coverage gap.
In addition, all Take Care Clinics located at select Walgreens are now offering the “Welcome to Medicare Preventive Visit” and “Medicare Yearly Wellness Visits.” These wellness services are for Medicare enrollees and include screenings for a number of common conditions, as well as education and counseling to encourage wellness and prevent disease.
Plan comparison reports, available daily at all of the nearly 8,000 Walgreens stores nationwide, are generated from Medicare’s online plan finder. The report details each plan’s estimated annual costs, including monthly premiums, brand and generic co-pays and coverage through the coverage gap.
Walgreens last week announced it will be a part of preferred pharmacy networks of four national Medicare Part D plan sponsors — Coventry, Humana, SmartD Rx and UnitedHealthcare. In addition to participating in the preferred networks, Walgreens will also be in the network of hundreds of other Medicare prescription drug plans for 2013.