Express Scripts and Medco together will lower healthcare costs

Combining Express Scripts and Medco is an opportunity for two leading pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to apply private sector know-how to solve our country's biggest healthcare challenge: lowering the cost of healthcare while raising the quality.

By joining complementary strengths, the proposed merger will benefit the nation's patients, employers and managed care plans, leading to safer and more affordable medicines for American families.

The PBM space is a competitive one with more than 40 PBMs playing an important role in healthcare.  We drive out pharmacy fraud, waste and abuse while lowering costs and improving health outcomes.  We increase adherence to prescribed medicines, proactively identify and correct prescription errors and ensure cost-effective delivery of medicines.  Our efforts save billions of dollars and extend millions of lives.

Our clients -- health plans, unions, employers and government agencies -- expect us to lower costs. We negotiate on their behalf with pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies to make that happen.  We also provide our clients with innovative solutions -- such as ways to improve adherence -- to help them maintain a cost-effective pharmacy benefit, the most popular benefit that a plan sponsor offers.

Let's be clear: pharmacies have been and always will be essential partners in advancing our mission. More than 60,000 pharmacies of all sizes and locations have chosen to participate in our retail network, including 90 percent of all independent pharmacies.

PBMs help pharmacies by providing benefits of modern technology, instant adjudication of prescriptions and notifications of harmful interactions and contraindications.

As a combined company, we'll collaborate with pharmacies, physicians and benefit plan sponsors to further improve America's healthcare beyond what either company can do on its own.  Express Scripts and Medco have well-established histories of doing what's right for patients.  The merger would accelerate our ability to do even more.

Brian Henry is the Senior Director of Public Affairs at Express Scripts

---