Federal Employee Program Renews Three-Year Agreement With Merck-Medco Mail Service Pharmacy

“Renewal demonstrates a great deal of confidence in Merck-Medco’s ability to deliver the highest-quality care”

Merck-Medco will provide mail service pharmacy benefits to more than 4 million members of the federal government’s largest employee health care program under an exclusive three-year agreement, the company announced today.

Merck-Medco, the nation’s leading provider of pharmacy care, renewed an agreement as the exclusive mail service provider to the BlueCross BlueShield Association Federal Employee Program (FEP). Last year Merck-Medco filled more than 11 million prescriptions for FEP members.

FEP, one of Merck-Medco’s most prestigious and long-standing accounts since 1987, is the nation’s largest fee-for-service health plan. More than 46 percent of the nation’s federal workers and retirees are enrolled in the FEP plan, which is the leading provider in the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP). The renewal begins on Jan. 1, 2002.

“In a fiercely competitive environment, this renewal demonstrates a great deal of confidence from FEP administrators in Merck-Medco’s ability to deliver the highest-quality care for their members,” said Dick Clark, president, Merck-Medco. “And every day, we are committed to proving through our performance that FEP made the right decision.”

The six-month request-for-proposal process included site visits to several Merck-Medco locations, including Fairfield, Ohio and Las Vegas, where the company has brought together the expertise and technologies to build the foundation for its 21st Century Pharmacy. This new breed of pharmacy, operating under six-sigma quality guidelines, enables Merck-Medco to deliver a higher degree of patient safety and dispensing accuracy to deliver better care, while at the same time managing costs.

About Merck-Medco

Merck-Medco is the leading provider of comprehensive, quality, affordable prescription drug care in the United States. An independently managed subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Merck-Medco serves the needs of more than 65 million, or nearly one-in-four Americans. Merck-Medco manages some 450 million prescriptions per year for its clients through its 12 mail service pharmacies and retail pharmacy networks. More information on Merck-Medco is available at www.merckmedco.com.

CONTACT: Merck-Medco Jeffrey Simek, 201.269.6400 [email protected]