Medco

Medco Health Solutions, Inc., based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, is a large U.S. mail order pharmacy and pharmacy benefits management company that is now called Express Scripts. The company manages drug benefits for corporations, unions, insurance companies, and federal employees. In April 2012, the Federal Trade Commission approved its merger with Express Scripts to form the pharmacy benefits management industry's largest company.

In 2011, Medco reported $70,063,300,000 in total net revenue. The same year, Express Scripts reported $46,128,300,000 in revenue.

Ties to Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt"
The Campaign to Fix the Debt is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to slash earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem."

This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's investigation of Pete Peterson's Campaign to "Fix the Debt." Please visit our main SourceWatch page on Fix the Debt.

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council
Until 2012, Medco was a corporate member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). It paid extra for a seat on the Health and Human Services Task Force. After it merged with Express Scripts, which had also funded ALEC, in April 2012, both parts of the newly formed corporation confirmed that they had cut ties with ALEC in July 2012 -- days after its major competitor, CVS Caremark, had made a similar announcement -- making it the 26th corporation to do so in 2012. However, an August 2013 ALEC board document obtained by The Guardian suggested that Express Scripts hadn't terminated its membership until January 14, 2013, having "dropped b/c of PBM issue," and Medco didn't terminate until February 25, 2013, because it "merged with Express Scripts." See Corporations Which Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.

Management
As of January 2013:
 * George Paz, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
 * Keith Ebling, Executive Vice President & General Counsel
 * Jeff Hall, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
 * Christine Houston, Senior Vice President - Pharma & Retail Relations
 * Ed Ignaczak, Executive Vice President - Sales & Marketing
 * Pat McNamee, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
 * Steve Miller, MD, Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
 * Glen Stettin, MD, Senior Vice President - Clinical, Research & New Solutions
 * Sara Wade, Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer
 * Tim Wentworth, Senior Vice President & President - Sales & Account Management
 * Gary Wimberly, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer
 * Larry Zarin, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer

Former executives include: (with 2006 pay)
 * David B. Snow, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, $8,610,000 (2007)
 * Bryan D. Birch, Group President, Employer Accounts, $2,306,744
 * John P. Driscoll, President, Insured and Emerging Markets, $1,873,581
 * Kenneth O. Klepper, Chief Operating Officer, $4,117,601 (also exercised $2,005,313 in options)
 * JoAnn A. Reed, Chief Financial Officer, $1,793,013

Board of Directors

 * George Paz, Chairman of the Board; Chief Executive Officer,Express Scripts
 * Gary G. Benanav, Director; Retired Vice Chairman, New York Life Insurance Company
 * Maura C. Breen, Chairman of the Compensation Committee; Retired Senior Vice President, Verizon Communications
 * William J. DeLaney, Director; President and Chief Executive Officer, Sysco Corporation
 * Nicholas J. LaHowchic, Director, Chairman of the Compliance Committee; President, Diannic LLC
 * Thomas P. Mac Mahon, Presiding Director, Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee; Director and Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings; Director, Member of Compensation Committee and past Chairman of the Board of PharMerica Corporation
 * Frank Mergenthaler, Director, Chairman of the Audit Committee; Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Interpublic Group
 * Woodrow A. Myers Jr., M.D., Director; Managing Director, Myers Ventures LLC
 * John O. Parker, Jr., Director; Venture Partner, Rho Ventures, LLC
 * William L. Roper, MD, MPH, Director; Dean, University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine; Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs; Chief Executive Officer, UNC Health Care System
 * Samuel K. Skinner, Director; Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, USF Corp.; Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Chief of Staff To President of United States (under George H.W. Bush)
 * Seymour Sternberg, Director; Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, New York Life Insurance Company

Former board members include:
 * Howard W. Barker, Jr., former partner at KPMG
 * Michael Goldstein, former Chief Executive Officer, Toys "R" Us
 * Myrtle Potter, also Director at Amazon.com, former Chief Operating Officer of Genentech

Political contributions
Medco gave $279,500 to federal candidates in the 2006 election through its political action committee - 28% to Democrats and 71% to Republicans.

Lobbying
Medco Health Solutions spent $890,000 for lobbying in the first half of 2007.

Contact details
Express Scripts Holding Co. 1 Express Way St. Louis, MO, 63121

Phone: (314) 996-0900 Web: www.express-scripts.com

Featured SourceWatch Articles on Fix the Debt

 * Fix the Debt Portal Page
 * Fix the Debt's Leadership
 * Fix the Debt's Partner Groups
 * Fix the Debt's State Chapters
 * Fix the Debt's Lobbyists
 * Fix the Debt's Parent Group
 * Fix the Debt's Corporations
 * Pete Peterson
 * Peter G. Peterson Foundation
 * America Speaks
 * Simpson-Bowles Commission
 * Erskine Bowles
 * Alan Simpson
 * Social Security
 * Medicare
 * Medicaid

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Pharmaceutical industry

External articles

 * "Medco Health to Settle Complaints", Associated Press/CorpWatch, April 27, 2004.
 * Milt Freudenheim, "Caremark to Settle Whistle-Blower Suit", The New York Times/CorpWatch, September 9, 2005.
 * Barbara Martinez, "Selling Generic Drugs by Mail Turns Into Lucrative Business", Wall Street Journal/CorpWatch, May 9, 2006.
 * Raymond Hernandez and Robert Pear, "Once an Enemy, Health Industry Warms to Clinton", The New York Times/CorpWatch, July 12, 2006.

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