Express Scripts
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| Type | Public S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NASDAQ: ESRX |
| Industry | Healthcare Pharmaceuticals |
| Founded | St. Louis, Missouri (1986) |
| Headquarters | Cool Valley, Missouri, U.S. |
| Key people | George Paz, President and CEO Jeffrey Hall, CFO |
| Products | Prescription Benefit Management, Specialty Prescription Management |
| Revenue |  $44.9732 billion US$ (2010)[1] |
| Net income | $1.2046 billion US$ (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 13,170 (2010)[1] |
| Website | express-scripts.com/ |
Express Scripts, Inc. is a Fortune 100 company,[2] and it is one of the largest pharmacy benefit management organizations in the United States.
The company processes pharmaceutical claims for members at network pharmacies and at their own mail order pharmacies. Headquartered in Cool Valley, Missouri in Greater St. Louis, Express Scripts provides integrated pharmacy benefit management services including network-pharmacy claims processing, home delivery services, specialty benefit management, benefit-design consultation, drug-utilization review, formulary management, and medical and drug data analysis services to manage drug plans for government agencies (both as administrator of employee benefits and public assistance programs), corporations, and unions. One of their largest clients is the United States Department of Defense's Tricare program.[1]
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History [edit]
Express Scripts began in 1986 in St. Louis, Missouri as a result of a joint venture between a retail chain of more than 79 pharmacies (Medicare Glaser Inc.) and Sanus Corp. Health Systems. Express Scripts was purchased by New York Life Insurance Company in 1989 and became a publicly traded company in 1992. In 1994, the company announced a two-for-one stock split and in 1996, established Express Scripts Canada. The same year, the company began the Annual Drug Trend Report and launched the Outcomes Conference.[3]
In late December 2006, Express Scripts made a proposal to purchase Caremark. Express Scripts lost the race to acquire Caremark to CVS Corporation, which became CVS/Caremark Corporation on March 22, 2007.
In October 2007, Express Scripts acquired ConnectYourCare, and now handles FSA, HRA and HSA accounts for companies such as Suntrust, Zions Bancorp and Allegis.
On April 13, 2009 it was announced that Indianapolis based WellPoint had reached a definitive agreement under which Saint Louis based Express Scripts overpaid for WellPoint's NextRx subsidiaries for $4.675 billion4[4] Express Scripts, the United States third largest PBM, closed the transaction in December 2009.[5]
Express Scripts also offers pharmacy benefit management services for workers' compensation insurance programs. The program is accredited by URAC, the nation's largest accrediting body for healthcare. .[6]
Fraud allegations [edit]
On August 4, 2004, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit against Express Scripts alleging that the company had kept tens of millions of dollars in drug rebates owed to the state. The suit was filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Albany County.[7] The lawsuit further claimed that Express Scripts had overstated the cost benefits of switching to certain preferred medications. In 2008 the company settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay $9.3 million to Pennsylvania and 28 other states to resolve claims of deceptive business practices. As part of the settlement, the company also agreed to change its business practices and pay up to $200,000 in reimbursement to patients.[8]
Information breach [edit]
in October 2008, the St. Louis headquarters received an anonymous letter that contained names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and some prescription information of 75 members.[9] The cyberextortionist stated that they had millions more of similar records and would release them if the company failed to pay an unspecified amount of money. Clients associated with the company also received similar threatening letters. A $1 million award was offered by the pharmacy benefits management firm for any information that would lead to the conviction of the individual or group.[10]
By November, about 700,000 clients were notified that their information may have been compromised. A consumer class action lawsuit against Express Scripts was brought on by John Amburgy, a Missouri man who accused the company of negligence in protecting customer records. He also accused the company of breach of contract, breach of implied contract, and violations of data breach notification laws in various states. Amburgy claimed that due to the data breach, he and various others affected by the incident were at increased risk of identity theft and extortion. However, Amburgy failed to show how he was directly affected by the breach and the lawsuit was dismissed.[11]
Illegal HGH distribution [edit]
On September 19, 2007, Specialty Distribution Services Inc., a subsidiary of Express Scripts Inc., under an agreement with federal prosecutors, agreed to pay a $10.5 million penalty and cooperate with ongoing law enforcement investigations for distributing human growth hormone to "well known athletes and entertainers".[12]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9ODY0MTV8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
- ^ "Fortune 500, CNNmoney.com". Money.cnn.com. 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ "Investor Relations - Express-Scripts.com - Corporate Milestones". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- ^ "Express Scripts WellPoint Acquisition". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ "Express Scripts 2009 10-K". Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Raksha Shetty (2004-08-04). "Drug Benefit Company Accused of Fraud". Cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ "Pennsylvania Attorney General Corbett Announces Multi-State Settlement With Express Sc... (HARRISBURG Pa. May 27 - One of ...)". Bio-medicine.org. 2008-05-27. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ^ Vamosi, R. (2008, November 6). "Extortion used in express scripts database breach".
- ^ Kaplan, D. (2008, November 12). "$1 million reward for arrest of cyberextortionists"
- ^ Vijayan, J. (2009, December 3). "No harm, no foul, says judge in express script data breach case"
- ^ [2][dead link]
