It can and it should. In fact, there is no earthly reason why this war of words should have escalated this far.
First, allow the Beast Who Slumbers to stipulate that he does have a dog in this fight as he is close to several people who work for Walgreen’s. Not at the corporate level, but at the direct customer service level. All of these people were longtime employees when Alan Levin owned the company.
Stipulation aside, ‘bulo believes that what passes for a ‘negotiation’ between the State and Walgreen’s has been done in such an amateurish and confrontational manner that the greater harm is being ignored in the struggle. The biggest losers in this entire affair will be the Medicaid recipients, make no mistake about that.
With Walgreen’s out of the equation, there will not be sufficient places to service the Medicaid recipients. Rite-Aid is teetering on financial collapse, their stock can no longer be traded on the NYSE. They cannot afford to fill Medicaid prescriptions at a loss, not for long. CVS, the country’s largest drug store chain, only has two stores in Delaware (Rehoboth & Milton), with a third in Wilmington months away from opening. So you’re looking at a couple of supermarkets, Target, Walmart, Costco, a few small independents, and that’s it. First, there is no guarantee that these few outlets will be able to stock and subsequently fill Medicaid prescriptions when they’re losing money on each brand name prescription filled. Second, Walgreen’s fills about 65% of all Delaware Medicaid prescriptions. Where the bleep could recipients possibly go to fill that void? It simply ain’t gonna happen.
This is public policy malpractice, pure and simple. The Walgreen’s suits from Chicago clearly have/had no clue as to how to negotiate with Delaware officials, and they played their hand too hard. However, at least they were willing to continue negotiations.
The State, OTOH, really came up small here. What was the point of some press flak from DHSS writing a release saying “Walgreen’s Abandons Delaware’s Neediest Citizens”? What, exactly, did anyone hope to accomplish by doing that and by going out of their way to smear a company that employs thousands of Delawareans? Has anyone in state government stopped to consider what removing by far the Medicaid provider of public choice is going to do to the health and well-being of this population? Where are the people in the City of Wilmington, where there are proportionately more Medicaid recipients, going to go to get their needs met?
The Beast Who Slumbers will now ask a sensitive question, but one, IESHO, that needs to be asked. Is it possible, just possible, that DEDO Director Alan Levin is allowing his personal experience with Walgreen’s to help color the State’s response here? El Somnambulo has both great professional and personal regard for Alan Levin, he really does. Alan was just the kind of boss that everyone would love to have. He treated his employees fairly and really like family. But there is no denying that Alan must have felt shunted aside by Walgreen’s and that he was (to Walgreen’s great shame) reduced to the role of a front man for a business that didn’t share his vision. Alan employed virtually the same tough negotiating tactics when he negotiated with the State on the last Medicaid agreement. Walgreen’s, in essence, is being demonized for employing similar tactics this time around.
Bottom line: No one is well-served in this imbroglio. Ultimately the only people who will suffer significant hardship are the Medicaid recipients. ‘Bulo knows that Walgreen’s has tried to restart negotiations, but the State is not returning the calls.
It is long past time for the grownups to take over, restart negotiations in private, and leave the press flaks at home. It is time for both Walgreen’s and the State to remember that the well-being of Delaware’s neediest citizens hangs in the balance.