Walgreens & Tricare Benefits

I received a letter from Walgreens today that upset me. Apparently Walgreens is no longer going to be an approved network pharmacy for Tricare. I think this is a travesty considering how amazing Walgreens prescription services are. They are fast, friendly and efficient AND because their systems are all linked together it doesn't matter where in the US I go each Walgreens knows what I'm allergic to and what medications I'm currently taking. This is beneficial because they know exactly what drugs I can take together and what ones may be harmful to me because of my allergies. I know many Tricare members get their prescriptions on military installations however, I would urge you to go to your local Walgreens and sign the petition to keep them in our network. This summer during our PCS move both of my daughters got strep throat. We were seen in the ER in St. Louis. Now, most people know that you have to go to a pharmacy to have a script filled b/c the ER doesn't fill them. I chose to go to a Walgreens near by. Both of the girls scripts were $8.00 total b/c we have Tricare and b/c I used the Walgreens pharmacy. Since I had used them before the process was quick and they asked me if Emily was still taking her other medication which she was not. Two weeks ago I went to Walgreens for a ZPac b/c I had a sinus infection. I could've drove all the way to Ft. Carson and sat waiting at the pharmacy and got it for free, but I decided to go to the Walgreens next to my dentist office. Fifteen minutes and $4.00 later I was out the door. AND they said "Mrs. Brown are you allergic to iodine" I said not that I'm aware they said "well we just notice you're allergic to Keflex and this drug had iodine in it like Keflex so we wanted to make sure the allergy wasn't iodine related." They checked and rechecked and it made me feel very confident in that pharmacy. I just don't think you get that level of care at other places? I would urge all Tricare members to sign the petition to keep Walgreens in our network you can go to www.ichoosewalgreens.com click the TRICARE button and sign the petition to let DOD and Express Scripts(the provider of prescription services for TRICARE) that we want the right to choose Walgreens as a network pharmacy provider. Below you can read Walgreens letter to us.