Washington - UPI
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.