Kroger's pending split with prescription giant will squeeze Los Alamos

Dec. 13—Los Alamos residents in the Express Scripts network will have just one drugstore on the hill to fill their prescriptions after the company parts ways with Kroger in January.

Express Scripts is breaking with the Cincinnati-based retailer over an impasse in contract negotiations, which will result in the two Smith's pharmacies in Los Alamos no longer filling prescriptions for people in the network.

The split will affect Los Alamos National Laboratory employees, particularly those who live in town, because Express Scripts provides pharmacy services to the lab's workforce.

The overall impact is uncertain because an estimated 65 percent of the lab's 15,800 employees live outside of Los Alamos County, with about 3,760 residing in Santa Fe County, where they would have alternative pharmacies such as Walgreen's and CVS.

Los Alamos residents on the Express Scripts program will have only a Nambe Drugs to get their prescription medicines.

The store is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, leaving a void on evenings and weekends that could be problematic if someone has an urgent need for medication, said Richard Skolnik, a White Rock resident.

"Barring delivery of such medicines to people in Los Alamos County, they will have to get their medicine in Española or Santa Fe," Skolnik said.

Such out-of-area travel would be difficult for people who are too ill or infirm to drive or lack a vehicle, Skolnik said.

In an email, lab spokeswoman Laura Ann Mullane said lab officials were aware of the situation and voiced their concerns to Express Scripts, which is looking at options for the Los Alamos area.

"Long-term maintenance medications can be acquired through our mail order provider," Mullane wrote. "And we are working with Express Scripts to determine other options for filling prescriptions locally."

In an email, Sen. Ben Ray Luján criticized lab employees losing pharmacy choices.

"Limiting access to pharmacies in communities with already limited options is troubling," Lujan wrote. "It is critical that LANL employees have accessible pharmacy options including brick and mortar pharmacies."

Express Scripts spokeswoman Justine Sessions wrote in an email the company is working to transition affected customers to another pharmacy.

"In Los Alamos, we are successfully working with other retail pharmacies in the area to expand their capacity and offer delivery options," Sessions wrote. "Additionally, our customers have the convenient option of home delivery to receive three-month supplies of their maintenance medications."

Skolnik questioned what Sessions meant by "area," given that Los Alamos has only one retail pharmacy besides Smith's.

He said he suspects she was referring to the larger area outside the county that would include Española.

Still, if home delivery is expanded, it would be helpful, he said, as long as it covers pressing medical needs — including on evenings and weekends, and not just monthly refills.

On the national level, Kroger and Express Scripts are blaming one another for the failed contract negotiations.

Kroger representatives didn't respond to requests for comment. In a news release, the company said its repeated attempts since February to "negotiate in good faith" with Express Scripts have failed.

"Kroger is doing everything possible to deliver greater value for our customers and navigate this ongoing period of record inflation," Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, said in a statement. "We do not believe Kroger customers should have to pay higher costs to increase Express Scripts' profits."

In her email, Sessions expressed similar criticisms of Kroger.

"At a time when we should all be working to reduce health care costs in the face of rising inflation, it is troubling that Kroger is pressing for a contract that would pass higher costs on to our clients and patients," Sessions wrote. "We would welcome Kroger back into the network if they decide they want to do what is in the best interest of their customers."

Skolnik said this conflict, which resulted in reduced service, reflects the larger problems in America's profit-driven health care system.

"In other high-income countries, all of which have state or national health insurance schemes, these issues do not arise as they do in the U.S.," he said.