BUSINESSHumana, Wal-Mart sign Medicare drug plan dealThe deal highlights private plans' desire to tap into what is expected to be a lucrative business.By Bob Cook, amednews staff. Aug. 1, 2005. In another sign of how aggressively health plans are moving to capture the upcoming Medicare drug plan market, Humana says it is joining with retail giant Wal-Mart to offer the new Part D prescription drug plan to seniors. Humana and Wal-Mart say they plan to offer a co-branded prescription card to Medicare recipients. The card can be used at the pharmacies within stores operated by the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, which has 3,600 outlets, including Wal-Mart stores and Supercenters, the Sam's Club bulk-sales club outlet, and the Neighborhood Market grocery chain. They also can be used at other pharmacies as well, the companies said. Enrollment for the new Medicare prescription plan, which is administered by private payers, begins Nov. 15, while the plan itself begins Jan. 1, 2006. The drug plan was passed by Congress as part of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Analysts considered access to a large senior population a catalyst for Minneapolis, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group's recently announced $8.1 billion acquisition of Cypress, Calif.-based PacifiCare Health Systems, a plan whose Secure Horizons division is the largest private administrator of Medicare plans. The transaction needs approval from federal and state regulators. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2005 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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