Walgreens in Washington to Stop Taking New Medicaid Patients

Walgreens stores in Washington state will soon stop taking new Medicaid patients. Walgreens claims that for 95% of the name brand drugs that are sold to Medicaid patients the company is reimbursed less than their costs for the drug, so they are actually forced to take a loss. Walgreens will continue to service existing Medicaid customers.

Unfortunately, much of the talk about the government "cutting" medical costs has to do with lowering the reimbursement rates for doctors and pharmacies. There is a good chance we will see more companies simply choose not to service customers who use forms of medical coverage that are backed by the government.