The retail pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as Walgreens) agreed to pay the United States federal government $300 million to settle claims that its pharmacy locations illegally filled invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances, and sought payment for many of those invalid prescriptions from federal health care programs. The settlement includes a provision that if the company is sold, merged, or transferred prior to fiscal year 2032, it will owe the United States an additional $50 million.

In the complaint filed on January 16, 2025, the Department of Justice alleged that . . .

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Addiction Treatment Services

Addiction is a chronic disease, which causes individuals to seek “reward” from substance-use or other activities whether or not they may cause harm. Addiction treatment has been in the spotlight as payers, policymakers, and health systems struggle to address the opioid crisis and increasing substance-related mortality rates. As a result, the addiction treatment market is shifting—there is expanded coverage for residential treatment, a push towards greater integration and care coordination, and new competitors entering the market—creating new challenges and opportunities for organizations working in addiction treatment.


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Negotiated reimbursement rates vary substantially across all American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Levels of Care for facility-based services—even after standardizing codes and removing outliers, according to a recent analysis released by the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP). The variation in reimbursement rates existed within and across payer networks, reflecting a fragmented and inequitable reimbursement environment rather than one driven by clinical outcomes, the report stated. The report outlines national commercial reimbursement patterns for Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and United, including the Optum carrier networks.… Read