Walgreen’s Trend Numbers

I think the next thing I need to do is put all this data side-by-side, but in the interim, here is some recent data from Walgreens:

• Highly managed plans had a -0.07% pharmacy trend last year. (I think we started this breakout of trend numbers back in 2005 at Express Scripts.)
• Total drug trend was 5.66% (based on all clients)
• They had a generic dispensing rate of 61.2% (or 69.6% incuding Medicare)
• They state that a 1% improvement in generic utilization equals a 2% savings in plan cost

“The outstanding -0.07 percent trend for highly managed plans demonstrates the effectiveness of our cost-containment strategies and illustrates the enormous impact our plan management options can have,” said Richard Ashworth, executive vice president, Walgreens Health Initiatives.

They also say their Trend Report will be available in early summer. (link will be good then)