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Not all prescription drug “savings” clubs open to everyone, Whistleblower learned, thanks to Sanford Morris

Posted on March 26th, 2009 – 9:43 AM
By James Shiffer

Sanford Morris, 67 and retired in Minneapolis, called Whistleblower back in the fall to question why he couldn’t be a member of the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. A Walgreens pharmacist told him the cheap generic drug program wasn’t open to Medicare recipients. I turned the story over to my colleague David Shaffer, who reported today that Walgreens stands out among pharmacy chains for charging more to the government than it does to individuals. It’s legal, but according to the head of Minnesota’s Medical Assistance agency, it’s not fair.

There are two messages here. First, once again, Whistleblower readers are the most important sources of knowledge about what we should be investigating and exposing. If Sanford Morris hadn’t called, we likely never would have known about this. Second, it sometimes takes a while, in this case five months, for us to follow up on tips and get them into the newspaper. Even those tips that never lead directly to stories help us understand what’s on your minds and where we should be looking. So keep those calls, emails and letters coming. We need your help.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 9:43 am and is filed under Buyer beware, Seniors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “Not all prescription drug “savings” clubs open to everyone, Whistleblower learned, thanks to Sanford Morris”

  1. Nancy Kroeker Says:
    March 26th, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    So glad to see this article, it is not only in MN as
    we live 6 months in South Texas and I found it true
    in Walgreens in TX as well. I also questioned the
    pharmacist who informed me I could not be on Medicare
    to qualify for their Savings Plan which I thought was
    quite unfair. We will discontinue buying our
    perscriptions at Walgreens and find a company who
    plays fair. Thank you for the information.

  2. Mel Says:
    March 27th, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Well it is in their contract with medicare and the state
    plans that they do not offer a discount plan for those
    who are on Medicare. Honestly it is in the best interest of
    the company to not go under. It has saved so many other
    people a lot of money it is for the uninsured and under insured
    not for people in their doughnut hole

  3. DGB Says:
    March 27th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    I’m close to 60 yrs old. I think many seniors consider themselves some sort of privledged class, and deserve unlimited entitlements.

    All of us working people are paying for “their medicare”. Additionally GW Bush made a huge expansion of government spending with the Medicare Drug law.

    What do you people want? Everything for nothing? If you’re healthy enough go get a part time job!

  4. Frank MIgnone Says:
    March 30th, 2009 at 9:15 am

    Walgreen Shame on you this is the second time that you
    have cheated the American People.
    Boycott Walgreens…
    They need to change their name to WALGREEDS.

    I will not shop at a place that steals from the American

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