Walgreens to Provide Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Through Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange in 2014
September 18 2013 - 7:20AM
Business Wire
Walgreens (NYSE:WAG) (Nasdaq:WAG) announced today that it will
provide more than 160,000 eligible employees with
employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in 2014 through its
proprietary “Live Well Benefits Store,” a marketplace that is an
outsourced solution through Aon Hewitt Corporate Health Exchange.
The Walgreens program provides more health coverage choices and an
opportunity for most employees to lower their out-of-pocket health
care costs next year.
In addition, the new program allows Walgreens to continue
offering health insurance and wellness benefits to its employees as
the plan administrator, while providing tools and resources that
help employees personalize coverage for themselves and their
dependents. The plan members will also continue receiving access to
Walgreens Healthcare Clinics for a $5 co-pay.
“Under this new program, employees will have expanded choices to
personalize their health care coverage in a competitive
environment, giving our diverse workforce the flexibility they need
to meet their health care needs,” said Kathleen Wilson-Thompson,
Walgreens senior vice president and chief human resources officer.
“We will continue to invest in the health of our employees and
their dependents while using a marketplace solution that offers a
wide variety of plan options that meet the affordability standard
of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
The new program also continues Walgreens value-based pharmacy
benefit for employees, which excludes prescriptions from plan
deductibles. “Our experience has been that this approach to
pharmacy benefit design is the best way to improve medication
adherence and lower overall health care costs,” said Kermit
Crawford, Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness.
Walgreens anticipates that many of its retirees who are under
age 65 and are eligible for company health care benefits will see
reductions in their health care premiums and more plan options as
well. Medicare-eligible retirees will see no changes in 2014.
The new program also provides an opportunity for Walgreen
retirees who weren’t previously eligible for health care benefits
to participate in affordable plan options through the “Live Well
Benefits Store.”
Working with Aon Hewitt, the Walgreens marketplace will offer a
wide array of benefit options and carriers for medical, dental,
vision, pharmacy and other benefits coverage in 2014. Walgreens
contribution toward the cost of health care benefits will be at the
same level as it was the previous year, with employees choosing a
health care plan that is personalized to their own individual and
family needs. Plan options include three high-deductible health
plans, a PPO and an HMO-style plan. With up to five carriers in
each of the country’s 21 geographic regions, the range of pricing
for premiums can be as low as $5 a month or less, depending on the
region. These options can be particularly attractive to the 36
percent of employees who are single and under age 30.
“With continued investment in wellness programs that are an
effective means of improving personal health, we are assisting our
team members and their families to control the cost of insurance
premiums in future years,” said Wilson-Thompson. “Our Walgreens
‘Well Informed’ wellness program, launched in 2010, paid team
members approximately $35 million in the last year in incentives
and rewards for participation in health risk questionnaires,
biometric screenings, healthy activities and tobacco-free
counseling services, among other programs.”
Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on
Health, said, “Walgreens is moving down a path that shows a
commitment to its employees and the desire to offer competitive,
cost-effective, flexible benefit choices. Marketplaces similar to
Aon Hewitt, while new for active employees in the employer space,
offer opportunities to drive more consumerism and consumer
engagement. Keeping prescription drugs from the plan deductible is
innovative and could help control costs and buy more health, not
just buy more health care.”
About Walgreens
As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2012 sales
of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become
America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day,
Walgreens provides more than 6 million customers the most
convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and
trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and
advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy
services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and
mail service, along with respiratory services. These services
improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including
employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy
benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 8,117
drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is
the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and
wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more
than 700 locations throughout the country.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Statements
in this press release that are not historical are forward-looking
statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as
“expect,” “likely,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “would,” “could,”
“should,” “can,” “will,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “continue,”
“sustain,” “synergy,” ”on track,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,”
“anticipate,” “may,” ”possible,” “assume,” variations of such words
and similar expressions are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that could cause actual results to vary materially from
those indicated, including those impacting the cost, coverage and
utilization of health insurance by eligible participants and the
factors described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Walgreens most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q, each of which is incorporated herein by reference and in
other documents that Walgreens files or furnishes with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking
statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date they are made. Except to the extent required by law,
Walgreens does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty or
obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after
the date of this report, whether as a result of new information,
future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
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