EnvisionRxOptions a Large Part of Rite Aid’s New Strategy

Rite Aid has embarked on what it is calling the “Path to the Future” to position the company for years to come. Rite Aid  is taking actions to use its unique capabilities to help payors deliver a high level of care to patients, to re-imagine its front end to offer the selection of products and services that meet the needs of its target customers and to transform its processes and procedures to ensure strong cost discipline and achieve peak operational efficiency.

As a major part of the company’s strategy is EnvisionRxOptions. Acquired by Rite Aid in 2015, the company provides pharmacy benefits and services to over 21 million members nationwide, which includes its growing Medicare Part D plan, EnvisionRxPlus and pharmacy benefits manager EnvisionRx. Nearly 650,000 Medicare Part D beneficiaries get their prescription benefit from Envision, and the PBM already has added more than 200,000 lives this year.

Envision’s growth has been in large part due to its transparent PBM model. In this approach, Envision does not retain rebates or “spread” pricing on dispensed medications. Instead, Envision passes rebates and discounts on to plan sponsors, who also can opt to leverage Envision’s technology and pass these savings on to patients at the point of sale.

EnvisionRxOptions, as part of Rite Aid, with its pharmacy base, as well as its RediClinics and Health Dialog population health management company, creates an offering that is unique and that can help deliver a higher level of care to patients.

After an extensive search, Employers Health, a national coalition of employers and other self-funded plan sponsors, has selected EnvisionRx as a preferred pharmacy benefit manager (PBM). EnvisionRx is the newest option, joining OptumRx and CVS Health in providing prescription benefits for more than 215 employers in the Employers Health coalition, caring for more than one-million patients across the United States.

EnvisionRx’s model  provides Employers Health member companies with the option to receive rebates at the point of sale. As a result, plan sponsors have better clarity on their drug spending and receive the benefit of continuous contractual improvements. When combined with the added support of Employers Health’s account management, clinical, legal and analytics teams, this relationship offers a unique alternative for coalition members.