Pharmacy benefits managers Medco Health Solutions and CVS Caremark on Wednesday announced that each had won part of a three-year government contract to provide prescription drug benefits to federal employees, retirees and dependents enrolled in the Federal Employee Program, the AP/Newark Star-Ledger reports (Johnson, AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 6/8).
Under the split contract -- which is effective Jan. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2010 -- CVS Caremark will provide retail pharmacy benefits and administer the clinical services program. The contract will generate about $4 billion annually in revenue for the company. Caremark, which recently merged with CVS, has held the FEP contract for retail prescriptions since 1993 and will continue to do so until 2010 under the new contract.
Medco will administer FEP's mail service and specialty prescription drug program, which will generate an estimated $2 billion annually, according to analysts (Wisenberg Brin, Dow Jones, 6/7). Medco's contract covers more than 4 million of the 4.7 million FEP beneficiaries, according to company spokesperson Jennifer Luddy (AP/Newark Star-Ledger, 6/8). Medco held the mail-order prescription drug contract with the government since 1993, but Caremark was awarded the full contract for January 2005 through December 2007 (Dow Jones, 6/7).
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Publication Date: 2007-06-12 16:00
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